The New Neighbors
by AdventureAddict
Summary: Robyn lives an ordinary life until one day a boy who is strangely similar to Edward Elric shows up. Robyn is determined to find out whether this is the real Ed or not. Can two 'fictional' characters help her heal from her past?
1. Modern Alchemy

I do not own Fullmetal alchemist. In fact, I don't even own any anime DVD or Manga – I borrowed those from my friends. All I has is a scrapbook of all the Fullmetal Alchemist pictures I've found that I pathetically stare at every day…

And we all know that Ed's language isn't the best, hence the rating. Kairi Angel would have killed me if I ended up bringing this down a rating because no one (including Ed) swears. So Kairi, this is for you.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

The New Neighbors, Part One

Chapter One – Modern Alchemy

Robyn glanced at her watch and swore softly enough so that her dad wouldn't hear. Her dad wasn't old-fashioned enough to get home at a reasonable hour at night, but he was old-fashioned enough to wash her mouth out with soap. Well, if he had enough time before work. Robyn quickly threw her copy of Fullmetal Alchemist to the side, and then quickly gave her hair a quick comb over.

Her hair was black, and shorter than the hair of some boys at school. It was short enough that she couldn't really pull it into a ponytail, but long enough that people didn't think she was a boy from behind. Robyn liked her hair short, even if she couldn't get it into an out-of-the-way ponytail. Besides, it looked cool to have hair falling in front of her face. Robyn gazed longingly at the cover of her Fullmetal Alchemist. As far as she knew, Ed never did much more than look at his hair, and his always managed to be perfect. Robyn had once tried to get a flip in hair like Ed's but it had never really worked. As the TV commercials would say, her hair was 'too bored to bounce.'

Robyn would have liked to know what the TV commercials would say about her. She as a classic tomboy – and she liked it that way. Most of the time, Robyn herself looked like she was 'too bored to bounce,' or to put it more accurately, 'too _annoyed_ to bounce,' or even, 'Bounce? How about I _bounce_ my fist into your eye?' Robyn chuckled softly to herself. Maybe she would use that one someday. The kids at Robyn's school hated any Goths or any person associated with them. Luckily, Robyn fell neatly into the category of 'I have several friends who are Goths, and I wish I was cool enough to be a Goth!'

Robyn looked in the mirror quickly before she slung her backpack over her shoulder. She was wearing a baggy gray hoodie that hung past the zipper of her slim jeans. Her hair hung loosely around her face, and on her feet were skater shoes that she hadn't even bothered tying. Tying shoes was a pain, anyway. Robyn wasn't going to spend five minutes every morning to make sure her shoes were tied just right so that she could kick them off when she got home. Robyn looked closely at her face and realized that she hadn't put on any eyeliner. She quickly reached for the small black pencil and put a thin line around her purple eyes.

Robyn gazed fondly at her eyes before she grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder. She had only seen those eyes on the faces of two people, and one of those faces was her mother's, who she would never see again.

_Never see again._

It was amazing how much those words could sting even years after they had put Elizabeth to rest. To rest for eternity in a cold, hard box in the ground.

A tear fell from Robyn eye and she rubbed at it angrily, smudging her eyeliner as she did so.

"Shit," Robyn mumbled and quickly reapplied a thin line of black underneath her eye. It amazed her how some girls would spend hours on makeup, only to have that sort of thing happen so that they needed to do it all again. Robyn had enough problems with eyeliner, which she swore was the only makeup she would ever wear. Robyn took one last look at herself and walked out into the living room. Her dad was asleep on the living room couch, the TV still blaring in front of him. Robyn looked at him sadly, turned off the TV, and walked out the door.

Once she was outside, Robyn breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against the door. It was a nice late August day, the sun shining brightly in the sky. It wasn't cold enough that Robyn was cold with her sweatshirt, but she was glad for the warmth it provided all the same. Robyn glanced at the vivid blue sky and the green grass spreading in all directions. The last thing she wanted to do right now was walk all the way to school. Robyn sighed, and took one last glance around before she left. There was a moving van in front of the house to her left. It was about time too, that house had been empty for who knows how long now. Hopefully these people would be better neighbors than the Gurps. Robyn shuddered at the thought of the Gurps, and quickly crossed the street.

Robyn walked confidently across the street to the pavement paradise in front of school, and looked back at her house. It really was a pain to walk to school every single day, especially in the winter. It was only the third day of school, and Robyn already hated it. She slowly trudged into the school, dragging her feet every step of the way. Her day improved slightly when she noticed an anime club poster hanging by her locker. It said that Anime club would be starting next Monday. Robyn grinned and made a mental note to herself to go next Monday. She quickly grabbed her Chemistry book and her sketchbook and slowly walked down the halls. She still hadn't memorized her schedule yet, so she had to check the numbers next to the doors as she walked by. Whose idea was it to have Chemistry first hour anyway? Robyn hated starting the day with a class that actually required _thinking_. Her brain wasn't working until at least second hour.

There was one good thing about Chemistry though. The desks seated two people each, and Robyn didn't have a partner. So every morning she was able to go in and stretch out her books over two spaces. If desks were houses, Robyn's would have been a penthouse. Luxury space, and not a single scratch or smudge of graffiti on it yet. Maybe Robyn would change that by adding a few doodles today.

Robyn swaggered into the room, reasonably happy for once. She was about to satisfyingly slam her books down on the empty space of her table when she noticed that a pair of hands was in her way. She was about to yell at the owner of the hands when she noticed that the person was wearing gloves.

_White_ gloves.

Who wore gloves to school on any day other than Halloween? Robyn quickly hid the grin creeping across her face and dared herself to look up.

She nearly fainted in delight. The boy looked exactly like Edward Elric, only in a much less anime way. His bangs were a lot shaggier than they had looked when he was a simple, 2-D drawing, but it was definitely Ed's hairstyle. And of course if the boy had Ed's hairstyle, his hair was perfect. Not a strand out of place, all tied back neatly in a braid. And the whipped cream on Robyn's cherry pie was the fact that the boy was wearing Ed's trademark outfit. Red coat, black jacket, black pants, the whole outfit was there, exactly right down to an atomic level.

The boy seemed to feel that he was being stared at, and looked up at Robyn. Their eyes met and locked for a second or two. Robyn just stared at the boy. She knew her mouth was hanging open, but she didn't care. _The boy had golden eyes. _

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," the boy said in an annoyed tone.

Robyn was too stunned to catch the sarcasm in the comment and muttered, "I left my camera at home." She couldn't imagine what girls would do to get a picture of 'The Real Ed.' Robyn slowly walked around the desk and sat in her seat, staring blankly at the board. "My name's Robyn," she said in a monotone.

"Edward," came from her right. That brought Robyn out of her zombie state and she quickly turned her head to the side.

"Really? Your name's Edward?" Robyn asked quickly, her voice getting a little too close to a fan girl squeal. "Mind if I call you Ed?" Robyn asked excitedly. Ed just sat there with a stunned expression on his face.

"Yeah, I guess. Everybody else does," Ed said as he stared at the girl. Lost in the moment, Robyn happily giggled and grabbed Ed in a two second hug. After a second, Robyn snapped out of her mood, and seemed to realize for the first time what she said and did. She blushed a deep shade of crimson and quickly pulled out her sketchbook and furiously started sketching, her hair falling in front of her face. Ed stared at her for another second, then shrugged and turned to his own paper.

After a minute of not really drawing anything, Robyn looked back up at Ed. He was bent over his own paper, hair falling in his face and preventing Robyn from getting a good view of his eyes. Robyn tried to get a good view of what he was drawing, but it was hard to do with Ed in the way. She finally caught a glance of the paper and saw that it was covered in small circles with symbols inside them. He was drawing transmutation circles, and had already covered the paper in them.

Robyn grinned and looked at the complex shadows falling across Ed's face. He looked exactly like Ed, but also completely different. Robyn's fingers itched to start sketching. She glanced down at the blank paper in front of her, and then picked up her pencil and started sketching.

Robyn quickly got so absorbed in her work that she didn't notice the small trickle of students coming in through the door. A few kids said things about Ed and his outfit, and a few girls tried talking with him, but Ed was an expert at pushing people until they snapped, so no one other than Robyn really stuck around. Soon the bell had rung, and Robyn was still sketching. Ed looked around cautiously, then slowly reached out two fingers and poked Robyn in the shoulder. Robyn looked up in surprise, her short hair whipping behind her. She heard their teacher saying something about lab safety

Robyn was so absorbed in her work that she didn't even notice students coming in until the bell rang. Her pencil suddenly stopped and she looked up in surprise. She looked around and saw that the classroom was full of students. Then she looked to the right and saw Ed looking right at her. She felt a blush creep its way up her cheeks. She didn't know he had been watching her. But he didn't know she had been sketching him either, Robyn thought with a twinge of embarrassment. Cheeks still blushing madly, Robyn faced forward and started listening to their teacher, Mr. Duncan, start talking about lab safety. Robyn took out a sheet of paper and quickly wrote her name on it. She looked down at the small line in disgust. Her handwriting was always so neat and perfect. Even when she tried to write sloppier, it ended up looking neat anyway. Robyn sat through most of Chemistry in a zombie-like state. Every now and then she would quickly jot something down on her paper, but other than that, she didn't do anything.

Twenty minutes before the end of class, their Chemistry teacher told them to take out their books and turn to page eight. Robyn sighed and sank a little lower into her seat and closed her eyes for a second. She really didn't want to read right now. She was suddenly interrupted out of her thoughts by a call of "Hey, Birdie!" from her right. Robyn turned to face Ed.

"My name is _Rob_-yn," she said with extra emphasis. "Not 'Birdie.'"

"Whatever," Ed said with a roll of his eyes. "Can I see your book?"

Robyn narrowed her eyes. "Forget it, Blondie. I'm not loaning you my book just because you forgot yours."

"My name is _Ed_-ward, not 'Blondie.' And they haven't issued me one yet," he said almost smugly. Robyn's shoulders sagged, and she looked at Ed nervously. She then turned to her book and pulled it off her sketchbook, forgetting that her sketchbook was still open to the drawing of Ed she had done earlier. Ed looked at the drawing and his eyes widened, but he ignored it and didn't say anything. Meanwhile, Robyn was carefully flipping to page eight in her textbook. She finally found the page and laid it open on the desk space between her and Ed. Robyn looked back up at the front of the class, ready for a boring, stuttering read-aloud.

Suddenly, something clicked in Robyn's mind and she looked back down at the page in surprise. The title read 'Modern Alchemy.' Robyn grinned to herself and looked over at Ed. He didn't seem unnerved by the title, but then again, Ed was never unnerved by anything. He was just staring solidly at the word 'Alchemy.'

"Can anyone give me a definition of alchemy?" Mr. Duncan asked, facing the front of the class with his arms behind his back. Robyn grinned silently to herself again, and let her hand shoot up into the air.

"A process of transmuting a substance of little value into something of great value," Robyn answered curtly. She could feel Ed's eyes boring through the side of her head. "Depending on what is most valuable with the current circumstances," Robyn added in a soft whisper that only Ed could hear.

"Correct," My Duncan said with a slight nod of his head. He then continued, "Now, Alchemy has been used in many stories by authors. Can anyone give me an example of where they've heard of Alchemy before?" This time no one raised their hand immediately. Robyn heard a few snickers and looked around to se that a few kids were staring at her. She wondered why they were staring at her. Were they expecting her to answer the question again? She looked closer at the students and realized that they weren't staring at her, they were staring at Ed. Ed had noticed this too, and was slowly sinking deeper into his seat. Robyn looked at him sympathetically, and then raised her hand again. Mr. Duncan pointed at her, and Robyn stumbled around for something, anything other than Fullmetal Alchemist that had Alchemy in it. The task was a lot harder with Ed's exact duplicate sitting next to her.

"Uh," She stuttered, trying to buy herself more time. "Wasn't it in Harry Potter?" gaining a footing she continued, "Didn't Dumbledore and Flamel use it to create the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Of course," Mr. Duncan sighed. "How many of you have seen or read any of the Harry Potter series?" All the children's hands shot up immediately, except for Ed, who was still sunk deep in his seat and staring at the desk intently.

Mr. Duncan crossed his arms across his chest and began again, "Now, uh," he checked his seating chart momentarily, "Robyn mentioned something about the Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Sorcerer's Stone, and many other names in other books. Can anybody tell me what the uses of the Philosopher's Stone were in Harry Potter?" A dozen hands slowly raised into the air.

Mr. Duncan pointed at one girl, who curtly responded, "It can turn any metal into gold and produces an elixir which makes the drinker immortal."

Mr Duncan nodded. "Well put," he said, "And those two things, unlimited wealth and money, were exactly what every alchemist wanted to achieve." He was interrupted by a loud bell signaling the end of class. "Read pages eight and nine for homework," he called after the departing students.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Note: This is a rewrite of chapter one. I haven't rewritten chapter two yet, and it's very different. It will be rewritten soon, though!

Yea!!! Yeah, here's a list of all the FMA stuff I've read or watched: FMA manga #1-11, the art of Fullmetal Alchemist, episodes 1-4 of the anime, Fullmetal Alchemist profile book, (Not the anime one), the Fullmetal Alchemist calendar (One full size color picture every month! Woot!) and the movie. Anyway, I'm sorry if later I have some things that don't quite make sense 'cuz I haven't learned all there is to learn about FMA. I _do_ however know that Ed is a cute little shortie! XD

Readers: Please review, it makes me happy! O.O - 5 pages - good beginning. Woot!


	2. PE Stands for Picking on Edward

AdventureAddict: YAAAY! I'm sooo happy! I got two reviews on my first chapter! I love the both of ya. (you know who you are) So now to make you as happy as you have made me, I am writing this as fast as I can! (I just hope that my dad doesn't wake up soon and demand his computer to play World of Warcraft… :D

Frodo: But what about your Lord of the Rings fanfic? (sob) you _said_ you would work on it…

AdventureAddict: I lied. ED'S A MIDGET!

(cricket chirping)

AdventureAddict: Where is he?

Frodo: I think he found the free buffet for all the actors.

AdventureAddict: Oh, great. I was hoping he wouldn't find that for a few more weeks…oke-tay Chapter two for you lovely, lovely, reviewers:D

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Two – P.E. stands for Picking on Edward

"No, I'm not joking. He seriously looks just like Ed!"

"Robbie, are you sure you didn't fall asleep in class again?" Kari looked at her friend skeptically. Sure, Robyn was a great person and all, but not much of a daydreamer. Normally Kari was the one talking about how she wished Ed went to their school, but Robyn seemed to actually believe it. Maybe she needed to go see the guidance counselor after gym.

Robyn pulled off her pants and threw them in the gym locker, exchanging them for her gym shorts. "Ha ha ha. No, I didn't fall asleep in class. You can come with me to Chemistry early tomorrow to see for yourself."

"Ok, Robyn," Kari sighed. Robyn could get really stubborn sometimes, and when she did, it was better to just give in than try to fight her. She pulled on her gym shirt and spun the dial on her locker, locking it. "You ready?" she turned to Robyn.

"Yeah let's go," the two turned and walked out of the locker room side by side. Suddenly, Robyn gave a small gasp and turned towards Kari, an evil smirk on her face. "I know how we can tell if he's really Ed," she grinned.

Kari sighed and turned to face Robyn. "You're getting really obsessed you know."

Robyn looked at her and said "At least I'm not the one who said," she made her voice a few octaves higher and dreamy, "I wonder what Ed would look like in a wet t-shirt contest?" Robyn switched back to her normal voice and pretended to be annoyed with Kari. "Wet, Kari, he'd look wet."

Kari turned a deep shade of crimson and pulled open the gym door. "Okay, fine I give. How do we tell that Ed is Ed?"

"We call him short!" Robyn said, finally unable to hide the fan girl squeal in her voice. Kari knew Robyn tried hard to deny it, but sometimes she just had a little bit of girly-girl in her.

Kari laughed, thinking of Ed whenever someone called him short. "I dare you to do it the next time you see him," she said with a smile.

Robyn paled and shouted, "Are you crazy! I was kidding! If he really is Ed that'd be suicide!"

"Oh come on," Kari laughed. "I bet you're shorter than he is!" Robyn growled. "Besides, he hasn't killed anybody!"

"There's a first time for everything," Robyn said darkly, her voice echoing through the empty gym. Kari shook her head, and then looked up when she heard the door slam shut. Suddenly her jaw dropped, and her face paled. Robyn looked around Kari's side, and then smirked in triumph.

"Somehow, 'I told you so' doesn't quite cut it," Robyn whispered into Kari's ear. Robyn doubted that Kari heard a word of it though, seeing as in front of them, in sweatpants, a hoodie and white gloves stood Ed.

"Do you think he has the automail?" Kari breathed. "I mean, it does look like he's trying to hide something…"

Robyn rolled her eyes and whispered, "watch this, fan girl" then stood up a little straighter and said loudly, "Wow, he's a little short, isn't he?"

Robyn could tell right away that it had worked. Something in Ed snapped, and he charged towards her at full steam, screeching, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SPECK OF DUST SO SMALL A MUSTARD SEED WOULD LAUGH AT IT!"

"Whoops," Robyn laughed, "Gotta jet," and with that, she started running in circles around the gym, Ed right on her tail. Kari was no help at all because she was just watching Ed as he ran in circles around the gym, sparkles in her eyes. Actually, more like her eyes _were_ the sparkles, Robyn thought with a sigh. "KARI!" Robyn yelled, "A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Kari suddenly snapped out of her trance state and stuck her foot out in front of Ed, tripping him. Robyn could practically see a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

The blonde got up and looked at his insulter, then started screeching again, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHORT! YOU'RE SHORTER THAN ME!"

Robyn crossed her arms across her chest; glaring at him through her two slits of eyes, fire where her pupils should have been. "So I'm short," she growled, "I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet." The truth was, her height (or lack of) was part of the reason Robyn had fallen in love with Fullmetal Alchemist in the first place. She could easily relate with Ed on the whole 'short' issue.

Ed looked back at her in the eyes for a second, and then took a step back. Robyn looked around in alarm. "What?" she asked, "Do I have something in my teeth?"

"No, you just have purple eyes. That's weird," he replied.

"Oh, and golden eyes aren't weird," Robyn scoffed. Kari stood over to the side picking at her nails. After being friends with Robyn for three years, she had come to expect this sort of thing. Robyn and Ed were glaring at each other, hands on their hips. Suddenly a stream of kids walked in, along with their teacher who shouted, "Alright everybody, into your assigned seats!"

Robyn gave Ed one last "hmph!" and walked over to her spot and sat down Indian style. Ed walked up to the teacher who said, "Ah, yes, Edward. You're right there behind Robyn Davenport. Ed walked over and sat down behind Robyn with a whisper of "Davenport?" to which Robyn just snorted.

Their teacher led them through the usual exercises, then announced that they were going up to the weight room, and needed to partner up. Robyn walked over to Kari, who looked at her in surprise. "Aren't you going with Ed?" she whispered. She had expected a fight over who would get him, and had already decided to let Robyn get Ed. at least, for today. She had met him first, after all.

"No," muttered Robyn, stubborn as always.

"Aw come on, Robbie. Look at him, it's so sad." Robyn couldn't resist she turned around and looked at Ed. He was standing in alone, looking for a partner. "Come on," Kari whispered, "I'll partner up with Joe." Joe had been Kari's crush ever since Robyn had first her. Her obsession had seemed almost unhealthy, and Robyn had been worried about what gym would be like. That is, until Ed came along. Finally Robyn gave in to the fan girl deep inside her (really, really, really deep) and muttered, "Okay," then walked over to Ed. They both looked at each other in the eyes for a minute, the started walking towards the weight room side by side. Kari chuckled at her friend, then ran over to Joe.

(A/N: Yes, there is still more fun to be had in gym class! I will not leave you hanging there!)

Robyn and Ed both reached the weight room and picked one of the stations, crunches. They laid on the mats, and looked at each other. A smirk flashed across Ed's face, and Robyn knew what he was going to do, and knew she had to beat him to it.

The teacher blew his whistle and Ed and Robyn both started doing crunches at lightning speed. Robyn glanced at Ed, and lowered her eyebrows, then focused more on her crunches. When the teacher finally blew the whistle again signifying for them to stop, Robyn panted out, "Fifty."

Ed looked at her with a grin on his face, and then said, "Fifty-one."

Robyn sat up. "You did not! You're lying!" she said accusingly, pointing her finger at him. Ed just sat there triumphantly, grinning broadly. The two of them got up and went to the next station, where Robyn sat down and set the weights to 35. When they switched, Ed sat down and raised it to 40. And so it went for the rest of the class. When the teacher finally told them to go to the locker rooms, Robyn and Ed both slowly walked out of the weight room, covered in sweat.

Robyn managed to stumble into the locker room, and after reaching her locker, practically collapsed. Kari looked down at her with mild interest. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"Ed the tornado," Robyn wheezed, fumbling with the lock on her locker.

"Wait, are you seriously telling me you competed with Ed on weights!" Kari yelled. Robyn nodded meekly, which caused Kari to laugh. "You know Robyn, you can really be an idiot sometimes," she chuckled.

Robyn narrowed her eyes, and then sighed, "Yeah, I guess so."

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

AdventureAddict: Yea! That was a fun chapter to write, I've always wanted to do a weight competition between Ed and someone! Only four pages this time, I hope that's enough for now! But tomorrow I only have a half day of school, and then it's a 4 and ½ day weekend! Whohoo!

Frodo: Uh, you forgot the disclaimer at the beginning.

AdventureAddict: Oops, hehehe. Well, I don't own any of the Fullmetal Alchemist characters. (Thinks) Heh, I don't think I even own Robyn, because she owns herself. Oh well. Please review because it makes me jump around the room in joy!

Frodo: Don't do it! Please! I beg you!

AdventureAddict: Ah, ignore him, he doesn't even belong in this fanfic. Hey Ed! Say something to the nice people before we say goodbye!

Ed: Chicken good…

AdventureAddict: He's still stuffing his face at the buffet…that boy will eat us out of house and home!

Frodo: What does that saying even mean?

AdventureAddict: Uh, actually, I don't know…


	3. Milk and Cookies

AdventureAddict: Yay! It's a super long weekend, so I will try to write a super long and extra good chapter!

Frodo: (yawns) again?

AdventureAddict: yes, again. Where's Ed, I want some good conversation here.

(Frodo runs off to trailer crying)

Al: um, Ed is, ahem, unable to come in today, so I'm taking his place.

AdventureAddict: You're not even in the fanfic yet! Oh well, what do you mean, 'unable to come in?'

Al: Well…

Winry: YOU BROKE IT AGAIN, ALCHEMY FREAK?!?! (Throws a wrench)

AdventureAddict: ah, that kind of 'unable to come in.' Okay then, let's start the story now and give those two some time…

Ed: IT'S NOT MY FAULT THAT BAD GUYS WHO HATE MY GUTS ARE CHASING ME!!!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Three – Milk and Cookies

Robyn pulled on her shirt, then grabbed her sack lunch and spun the dial on her locker. She turned to Kari, who was holding a stack of English books. The two of them turned and walked out of the locker room and into the hall, chatting softly. When they went around the corner, there was Ed in his red jacket, leaning against the wall. Robyn heard Kari whimper and she rolled her eyes. Kari had a mild case of fan girl syndrome, she thought to herself.

(A/N: Me, I have a SEVERE case of fan girl syndrome when it comes to Ed. I mean, this is _dangerous _to my_ health!_)

"They're not going to let us go until the bell rings," he told them lazily. The other two just looked at each other, wondering how to make small talk with Ed. It wasn't like they could just say, "So, what's your latest assignment from Central? Checking out America? That's cool."

"So, you got any siblings?" Robyn asked casually, looking anywhere but into Ed's eyes. She looked at his stomach and blushed, remembering how there had been pictures of him in just his boxers in the manga.

"Nah, what about you?" he replied. Robyn looked down at the ground, eyebrows bunched together. Kari opened her mouth to change the subject, when the bell rang. Robyn sighed in relief. Kari waved goodbye to Robyn and walked off in one direction, while Ed and Robyn walked in another. After a few minutes, Robyn noticed that Ed was still walking beside her.

"You know, I don't need a bodyguard," she said, turning to him with a smirk on her face.

"Neither do I," he replied.

"Then back off!"

Ed turned to her, a strange smirk on his face. "We're just walking in the same direction by chance. And unless you're going somewhere other than the lunchroom, we'll probably be walking in the same direction for a bit longer."

Robyn glanced down at the sack lunch clutched in her hand and frowned. She didn't want to try chatting with Ed all the way to the lunchroom. "Not unless I beat you there," she grinned, knowing Ed wouldn't pass up a race. The two of them glanced at each other, and then shot off, streaking down the halls.

They both reached the table at the same time, slapping their hands on it in unison. "I…win," Ed panted triumphantly.

"Did…not," Robyn said, taking in as many gulps of air her lungs would allow. "I…totally…won," she sat down and started pulling things out of her bag. Ed walked over to the lunch line.

Robyn had already finished her ham and cheese sandwich when Ed walked over with his mountain of food. Robyn chuckled silently to herself, then dug into her bag as he started stuffing his face. Robyn fumbled around in the sack a little longer before she realized that she had forgotten to pack a drink for herself. She sighed and stood up.

"Uh, Ed? I'm going to…" Robyn started, then stopped when she realized he was so busy eating he hadn't heard a word she had said. "Never mind…" she sighed and then walked off to get a drink. Robyn glanced at the drinks she could buy, then fumbled around in her pocket for change. She pulled out the few coins she could and counted them. She had fifty cents exactly, which was enough for a carton of chocolate milk. Barely.

She walked to back to the table holding her milk and saw Ed sitting there, all his food gone. Robyn grinned to herself. Maybe it would be well worth her fifty cents. She sat down and placed her milk on the table and started to open it.

"Where were y-" Ed started, but stopped as Robyn jabbed a straw into the milk carton. She couldn't stand drinking it out of the carton straight. It was probably because she used to eat paper when she was four. Robyn just took a sip of milk and looked at Ed, who paled and started sweating.

"What's wrong?" she asked innocently. "You want a sip?" she held it out to him, and was pleased by Ed looking ready to throw up. Ed shook his head, and muttered something that sounded a lot like, "I _hate_ milk."

"Well sure, when it's warm, well that's just disgusting," Robyn said. "But when it's nice and cold like this," she took another sip for emphasis, "Mmmm!" Ed pushed his chair away another inch from her. Robyn laughed and then quickly finished the rest of the milk in a few sips, then tossed it into a trash can behind her. "Better?" she asked Ed. The color seemed to be returning to Ed's face, and he didn't seem to have quite so many beads of sweat on his forehead. He nodded meekly, and Robyn chuckled.

"Well, I didn't think chemistry would be so cool," Robyn said quickly, changing the subject to something she knew Ed would like.

Ed looked up at her in surprise, and then said, "What, the whole 'Modern Alchemy' thing? Yeah, it was all right I guess. You know about alchemy?"

Robyn smiled, "Well, duh. First of all, I answered half the questions in there; second of all I have read _books_. Authors like the idea of alchemy too, I guess"

Ed grinned a little, paused and said, "That drawing you did in Chemistry," Robyn stiffened. She had been wondering when that would come up. He probably thought she was some kind of stalker.

"It was really good. You in Art or something?" Robyn relaxed. So he was just surprised by her skill, that was all.

"Well, my mom was an artist, and she used to teach me, but…" Robyn looked down at the table. "She died."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Robyn said, looking up at Ed again. A lot of people had said that after her mom had died, but Robyn didn't understand it. Them apologizing for her mom's death didn't help at all. Only the apologies of the people who did it would help.

"Ed, do you want to come to Anime Club tomorrow on Monday school?" she blurted out. Why had she said that? Inviting him to anime club would not be good.

"Sure, I guess," he mumbled. It was too late now to tell him not to come. Somehow Robyn always managed to do this to herself.

Robyn spent the rest of the day looking for Ed, but she only saw him in the hallways a few times, not in anymore of her classes. Ed was a bit of a commotion in the hallways with his red jacket and gloves. At the end of the day, Robyn packed up her books quickly, and raced to the front door. Once she was outside, she started breathing in huge gulps of fresh air.

"Much better," she said out loud.

"Talking to yourself again?" Robyn heard a voice behind her say. She turned around only to see Ed. She grinned at him and nodded happily.

"Whoa," Ed said, a surprised look on his face. "What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Robyn said innocently. She knew she had a whole different attitude outside, lots of people had commented on it over the years.

"Well, you just seem not so…emo," Ed stated simply.

Robyn looked at him, an evil smirk on her face, then yelled, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO DEPRESSED THEY COULDN'T EVEN GET OUT OF THEIR OWN BED?!?!" She shook her fists in the air and was kicking her legs as high as they could go.

Ed took a step back. "I didn't say that!" he yelled, trying to make the hurricane stop.

Robyn suddenly stopped, then looked at Ed and said, "And I didn't say all of that stuff you said after I called you short."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIECE OF PLANKTON SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE IT WITH A MICROSCOPE?!?!"

Robyn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, see what I mean? Okay, you're not short. All right?" Ed looked over at her, a vein still throbbing on his cheek, but at least he had stopped his tantrum. Robyn smiled, and then turned.

"I'm going to the park. I'll see you tomorrow!" she called over her shoulder. Ed waved back lazily.

"I think I'll go take a nap." He muttered to himself as his stomach suddenly growled. "And maybe have a snack."

Robyn spent an hour in the park sketching trees and any people who passed while she enjoyed the wind blowing through her hair. Finally, she decided she better head home and cook dinner for her father and work on her homework, even if she wanted to just sit in the park for years, enjoying the idea of Ed going to her school. Robyn slowly got up from her position on the ground and trudged home.

She stopped in front of the door to her house and put her key in the lock, looking to the right as she turned it. The moving van was still in front of the neighbor's house. Maybe she could bake some cookies or something later, she thought as she walked in. she dropped her backpack in the front entrance and walked over to the fridge, where she pulled out a few ingredients.

Two hours later, Robyn was scribbling out a note to her father.

Dad – 

I'm over saying hello to our new neighbors. There's spaghetti in the fridge and leftover cookies on the counter. I'll be home soon. Don't worry, my homework's done.

– Robbie

She wrapped a plate of cookies in cellophane and walked out the front door, carefully locking it behind her. Robyn glanced at her watch. Five o'clock. She had plenty of time. She slowly walked up the front door and pushed the doorbell. She waited for a full minute before she pushed it again, and still nobody answered. She was about to turn around when the door clicked open. There, in all his blonde glory, stood Ed. His hair was in a braid, but a very messy one, and his eyes were only half open. Robyn supposed he had fallen asleep. Suddenly he realized who was standing in front of him, and his eyes snapped open.

"You?! How'd you find out where I live?" he glanced down at the plate in her hands. "Are those cookies?"

Robyn sighed. "Yes, me. I live next door. And yes, cinnamon chip cookies." She could see that Ed was going to start drooling if he didn't get one of the cookies quickly. "Well, go ahead and have some," she sighed, holding the plate out to Ed, "I did bring them for my new neighbors."

Ed snatched the plate from Robyn and tore the cellophane off, then stuffed one of the cookies in his mouth, walking inside the house and motioning for Robyn to do the same. After managing to chew the first cookie, he looked at Robyn in surprise.

"It's really good," he told her. Robyn just blushed and scratched the back of her head.

"I was my mom's recipe. I don't know what else to use cinnamon chips for," she said. Her mom used to make really good food. Robyn could still remember the devil's food cake she had on her seventh birthday. That had been the best cake she had ever had, and she didn't know if she would ever have cake that was any better.

"Where are your parents?" Robyn asked, glancing around the house.

"Still at work," Ed mumbled, cookie in his mouth. Of course he would say that, Robyn thought with a smile. The two of them chatted until eight thirty, when Robyn said she had to go home, or else her dad would kill her. She walked home and walked inside. Her dad still wasn't home. Robyn sighed and crossed out the 'I'm over saying hello to our new neighbors' and the 'I'll be home soon' and replaced it with 'I'm asleep.' She then walked into her room and collapsed on the bed.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

AdventureAddict: Yay! Another chapter done! I'm going to start another one right away, but I figured that was a good stopping point for now. Maybe I'll go and take a nap too…

Ed: Yay! My master plan to slowly turn everyone into Ed clones is working!

AdventureAddict: No, I'm always this tired.

Ed: Are you sure you're not an Ed clone?

AdventureAddict: Positive. Where's Frodo? I miss his weird contributions to the conversation.

Ed: Over there making out with Winry.

AdventureAddict: BLEAGH!!!!! MY EYES!!!!! IT BURNS!!!!!

Ed: Just kidding!

(A/N: Don't worry, even I would never be that cruel and crazy to make _that_ coupling…)


	4. In Memoriam

AdventureAddict: Yay! Chapter Four! (Cricket chirps)

Kairi Angel: Yay! Number Four!

AdventureAddict: Oh, You're here? Everybody, this is my friend Kairi Angel.

Crowd: Hi, Kairi Angel.

Kairi Angel: Yep, I'm Kairi Angel. I'm AdventureAddict's friend who introduced her to Fullmetal Alchemist. I created a monster!

AdventureAddict: And we all love ya for it. Oh yeah, we have to call Ed a pipsqueak sometime during this intro.

Ed: WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HAIR SO SMALL YOU DON'T NOTICE IT ON YOUR GIRLFRIEND'S UPPER LIP?!?!

AdventureAddict: Those are really starting to get weird…

Kairi Angel: Anyway, if you're wondering, Kari is supposed to be my character, but AdventureAddict forgot an 'I' in Kairi…then again that would confuse people. It isn't a Kingdom Hearts fanfic.

AdventureAddict: No it isn't. Now shut up and listen to the story!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Four – In Memoriam

Robyn laid in her bed, the covers pulled up to her chin. She didn't want to get out of bed. Outside was too cold, and her bed was too warm. She could get out quickly and call the school to say she was sick. Her dad wouldn't care if she stayed home. Then something popped into her head.

Ed.

He would probably come to school today, and she had him in Chemistry, gym and lunch. She rolled her eyes and crawled out of bed, slowly walking over to her closet. Sometimes she hated loving Fullmetal Alchemist so much. She looked through her clothes and pulled out a purple shirt with tight sleeves down to her elbow and a pair of jeans. She then pulled on a baggy black t-shirt and a black leather mini-skirt over the jeans and shirt. She then glanced around the room, looking for shoes, and pulled on her black combat boots underneath her jeans. She walked over to her mirror and glanced at the reflection in it. Her mother would have liked the purple shirt. She would have said that it made her eyes all the prettier. Robyn sighed and pulled on her backpack, then walked out the door. Robyn stood outside her door for a few minutes, breathing in the cool, fresh air. Suddenly, a door slamming jolted Robyn out of her thoughts. She looked over to her left to see Ed standing there, looking at the sky as if he wished it was Saturday.

"Hey Ed!" Robyn called out. Ed jumped a bit and looked over to Robyn.

"Hi Robyn," he called back drowsily. The two of them silently crossed the street then started walking side by side. Robyn looked back over to Ed. He looked exhausted. She grinned as an evil idea came into her head.

"COCK A DOODLE DOO!!" she screamed into Ed's ear. He jumped and glared at her, his eyes narrowed.

"Wow Ed, I think you jumped about twice your height," she commented. Ed's eyes got a little smaller.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PEBBLE SO SMALL YOU WOULDN'T NOTICE IT IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SHOE?!?!" (A/N: Thanks to my friend nightbug08 for that one. Don't worry, I'll put more in. And if any of you lovely readers want to tell me any funny things Ed says that you've run into, you're welcome to share them, I'm always looking for more. .)

Robyn grinned at him and laughed a little, "I didn't say you were short, I just said you jumped pretty high!" Ed stopped, still storming, but Robyn could tell that he knew she was right. Robyn laughed, and ran into the school, Ed on her tail.

Robyn finally reached her locker and leaned on it, trying to catch her breath. Then she turned to Ed.

"Why did you follow me all the way up here?" she asked, her head cocked.

"I still owe you one for calling me a pipsqueak," he said as he walked away, his finger pointed at her and eyes narrowed. (A/N: if you can remember in the manga with Nina where Ed says, "Hey dog! I'll play with you for exercise!" that's what he looks like) Robyn smiled as he turned around.

"See you in Chemistry!" she called out. Ed held up a hand as he walked to wave goodbye. Robyn smiled and turned back to her locker. It was nice to have somebody like Ed who just cheered school up so much. Especially on a day like today. Her locker sprang open. As you might know, most girls in high school have pictures of almost every person they've ever met or lots of magnets and useful things in their locker. (A/N: I have word poetry in my locker. .) Robyn just had one old battered picture hanging on her locker.

It was a picture of a man with ruffled hair with his arm around a young woman with purple eyes. Next to them, a boy around Robyn's age stood smiling and supporting a four-year-old girl riding piggyback style on him. The two children had matching purple eyes and black hair. Robyn gazed fondly at the picture, then stuffed her backpack in her locker and pulled her Chemistry books out. She walked slowly down the hall towards Chemistry, then glanced at the wall and noticed that she only had two minutes left. She scowled angrily, and then ran towards her chemistry class, barely making it in the door as the bell rang.

"Where were you, picking daisies?" Ed whispered. Robyn scowled at him. She was in a bad mood now. She didn't like running down to her classes. Suddenly the squeal of the intercom broke through the classroom, and all the kids looked up at the little holes in the wall, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to see anything special.

"All students and teachers, we would like to have a moment of silence today for those who were killed five years ago when the terrorists crashed into the world Trade Center," it announced. Robyn's bad mood disappeared as she silently bowed her head. She had only been in fifth grade when it had happened. She could still remember how they had played the same clip of the plane crashing into the first twin tower and exploding over and over, and then the clip of the second plane crashing over and over. Robyn just sat there staring at her desk even after the intercom had rambled, "Thank you," and the chatting in the classroom had returned.

"Robyn? Rob-yn…Robyn!" Robyn looked up to see who was talking to, or trying to talk to her. Her head bounced up and met golden eyes. Ed, she sighed silently.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Robyn thought for a second of telling him she was fine, thanks for asking, have a nice day, but then she looked back up at him and shook her head no.

"What's wrong?" he asked her. Robyn practically swore under her breath. She should have known he would ask that. She desperately tried thinking of an excuse that didn't sound lame in two seconds.

"I, uh, don't feel good," she lied. Ed looked at her with concern written all over his face, and Robyn couldn't hide the sudden smile that flashed onto her face.

"What?" he asked in a confused voice.

Robyn shrugged, "It's just that…we're friends, aren't we?"

Ed smiled, "Yeah, we're friends." Suddenly Mr. Duncan walked back into the room, and Ed held up a finger to Robyn and got up and walked over to Mr. Duncan. Robyn stared at Ed and Mr. Duncan. She wondered what they were talking about. Suddenly, they both looked over at Robyn, who turned a deep shade of red and sank down into her seat. Ed and Mr. Duncan both turned back to each other and continued talking, completely ignoring Robyn's embarrassment. They were talking about her. She _knew_ they were talking about her, why else would they both look at her? She sank down in her seat until she couldn't see anything. What was Ed saying about her? It didn't matter, she realized. He was telling a teacher something about her, probably that she was some mean kid who liked to go around calling other kids pipsqueaks. But then again, tattling didn't seem much like Ed, and he had _just_ said they were friends…

"Robyn?" Robyn turned to the voice calling above her and saw Ed, staring down at her in her hole of a desk. "Come on, we're going to the nurse's office," he said.

Robyn sat up. "What?" she asked. All she had heard from practically sitting on the floor was, "…Going…Office."

"I told Mr. Duncan about how you weren't feeling good, and he said I could take you down to the nurse's office," Ed explained calmly to her.

"Oh," Robyn said. She glanced around the classroom, then gladly got up and followed Ed out the door.

(A/N: I _love_ Ritz!!! Sorry, just having a snack while I type. Please continue…)

Ed and Robyn silently walked down the hall, Robyn's boots making loud clunking noises that echoed through the empty halls. Ed turned and looked at Robyn. Maybe she was sick, she did look a little queasy.

"So what's with the weird outfit?" Ed asked. Robyn looked over at him with a confused expression on her face.

"Huh?" she looked down at her clothes. "Oh, this? It's September eleventh," she answered simply.

"So?"

"So…I'm wearing this because it's September eleventh and these are the only black clothes I have. I have a cousin who went through a Goth stage and she passed these down to me," she explained.

"Yeah, why do you have to wear black?" Ed asked again. _"Maybe Robyn has a mental problem," _he thought._ "She doesn't seem to get the question at all." _

Robyn looked at him, and said, "It's September eleventh,"

Ed looked back at her. Both of them had stopped walking now. "Yeah, thanks for that update. Why are you wearing black?" he said, looking at her like she was stupid or something. Robyn stared back at him thinking about how much of an idiot he was, when something hit her. If he really was Ed, of course he wouldn't know about September eleventh. Maybe this could prove that he really was Edward Elric! It took all of Robyn's self control to keep from jumping up and down and screaming like a little girl.

"Um, well, I have something at my house that would help explain it," Robyn said. How could she explain September eleventh to somebody who didn't know anything about it?

"Um, okay," Ed said. Robyn stopped in front of the nurse's office, and Ed turned to go. Maybe having a bodyguard wasn't so bad.

"Wait!" she called out. Ed turned and looked back at her. Robyn looked down at the ground. "Maybe you have to stay to sign something," she said. Ed looked at her like she was crazy, then turned to go again. Robyn caved and called out, "Okay!" Ed turned back and Robyn continued, "I don't want to go in there alone because," she paused and took a deep breath, "They have needles in there."

Ed laughed, "That's it?" Robyn meekly nodded, and Ed laughed even harder. Then something in Robyn snapped and she yelled, "At least I'm not afraid of something stupid like milk!"

Ed stopped laughing and glared at her. "What makes needles so scary and milk stupid?!"

"Needles can hurt you, milk can't!"

"It can if you're lactose intolerant!"

"You're not!"

"How are you so sure?!"

"You just don't like drinking something from a COW!"

Ed was about to yell something back when he cocked his head and looked at her strangely. "How'd you know that?"

Robyn realized her mistake and practically hit her head on the wall. "Well, if you were lactose intolerant, you would have said so," she stammered. Ed looked at her, then seemed to accept her explanation and turned to walk away. "Wait!" Robyn called out again, and Ed turned back to look at her again. "Please?" she said desperately. Ed seemed confused for a second, and then he realized that she was referring back to the needle issue. He sighed and rolled his eyes, then walked back over to Robyn.

Robyn sighed in relief and whispered "Thank you," then walked into the nurse's office, with Ed by her side. The nurse looked up as they both walked in, her eyes landing on Robyn. Suddenly the nurse stood up and walked over to Robyn, enveloping her in a big hug, to the surprise of Robyn and Ed.

"Aw, sweetheart, you want to go home, don't you?" the nurse cooed. Robyn meekly nodded and relaxed in the safety of the woman's arms. "Thanks for taking her down here. She's in good hands now," she assured Ed. "Here, I'll write you a pass." She walked over to her desk, one arm still around Robyn, and pulled out a pad of pink paper. She quickly scribbled on the first sheet and tore it off and handed it to Ed. Ed took the sheet, but still looked at Robyn. He didn't think that she would ever act like this.

"You okay?" he asked Robyn. She nodded, closing her eyes as her head quickly bobbed up and down, then opening them again as she stopped. Ed still looked at her, a little concerned, "See you in gym?" he asked, and Robyn shrugged. Ed looked at her one last time, then turned and walked out of the office.

Robyn sat in the nurse's for a while, enjoying the security it provided. Down here, someone didn't have to worry about a test next hour, or if they were passing English. The nurse had told Robyn that she was going to send her home, so the only thing Robyn had to worry about was how to convince the nurse not to call her dad and make him leave work just because she was having a bad day. Besides, it would take an hour at least for her dad to arrive. Robyn didn't want to spend an hour waiting in the nurse's office so her dad could come and drive her across the street.

"Um, nurse?" she said, and the nurse looked up from going through her files to find the work number for Robyn's dad. 'Um, could I just go home? I live right across the street, and since I'm not sick the way most people would consider…" the nurse looked thoughtful for a minute. _'Piece of cake,'_ Robyn thought with a grin.

Ed stopped in front of Robyn's house after school and knocked on the door. He wondered if she was feeling any better. There was no answer for a few seconds, and he listened carefully. He could hear faint guitar music coming from the house. 'She must be listening to music,' he thought and rang the doorbell, hoping she would hear that. He heard the guitar music stop and then padded feet that sounded like they were running, and then the door opened and Robyn was there. Her hair was ruffled as if she had been sleeping, and now she was wearing a baggy t-shirt and pajama bottoms.

"Hi Ed," Robyn said, "Come on in." Ed looked at her with a confused look on his face. "Remember? I was going to explain September eleventh to you," Robyn said. Ed suddenly remembered and took a step inside. Robyn walked towards the kitchen, Ed following cautiously. "You want a snack?" she asked. Ed nodded gratefully. He was _always_ hungry. Robyn smiled and pulled a fruit roll-ups box from the cabinet. She tugged two packages from the box, grabbing one for herself. She looked over at Ed, and then she tossed both the fruit roll-ups to him, grabbing a third one for herself.

"Come on," she said, taking a bite of her roll-up and motioning for Ed to follow. She led him down a hallway and stopped in front of a door covered in drawings, mostly of people. Robyn casually opened the door and walked in, but Ed continued looking at the drawings.

There were all kinds of people there. There was a very short boy, who looked like he was only three feet tall, with curly brown hair and a ring around his neck. There was a cluster of what looked like pirates, some with bandannas or gold teeth, and next to them was a tall, graceful woman with blond hair and pointed ears, who looked like she was an elf. "Did you draw all these?" Ed asked.

Robyn was busy looking at books on her bookshelf. "Yeah," she said without looking up. "Whenever I do one I like, I tape it up."

Ed peered closer. There were so many people it could make an entire fantasy world. Four-year olds, kids with Mohawks, a man with three swords coming out of his hands, and even some people who looked like they were part animal and part human. It looked like it had taken Robyn years to draw so many people and cram them on one door. Then Ed spotted the picture Robyn had drawn of him in art class. Next to it was a picture of a man in a suit of armor that had a long strand of hair trailing of his helmet. He looked a little scary, especially with the glowing eyes Robyn had put in. "Who's this guy?" Ed asked casually, pointing his finger to the man in armor.

Robyn walked over to see which picture Ed was talking about. She looked towards his finger and gulped. It was the one picture of Al she had put up. Of all the pictures she had on her door, Ed had to spot that one. She thought quickly, then told Ed, "It's a kid about our age. He and his brother are searching for something, and trying to solve a mystery at the same time."

Ed looked closer at the drawing, as if he couldn't believe that a kid that big could be their age. "What are they searching for?" he asked Robyn.

"Uh, well, I'm not really sure yet," Robyn stammered. Ed nodded, seeming to accept her answer. Robyn walked back over to the bookshelf and pulled out a book while ed looked around.

"Wow. Your room is really…pink," Ed commented. Ed hadn't really expected a room like this from Robyn. In one corner stood a bed with pink sheets. Next to it was a desk with a pink cushion on the chair, and against the wall across from the doorway stood a vanity, complete with a little pink stool. Even Robyn's bookshelves were painted the same shade of pink. It seemed like Robyn had realized how pink the room was though, and had tried to make up for it by painting the walls black. Then she had stenciled the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody on the walls in pink, making the whole room very dramatic.

"It was my mom's furniture," Robyn said, as if trying to make up for the excess of pink. Suddenly Ed noticed an electric guitar standing in one corner, and remembered the music he had heard when he had come up to the house.

"Was that you playing?" he asked. Robyn looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face, and then noticed how he was looking at the guitar.

"Oh! Yeah, I play," she told him. She liked playing the guitar, she could relax and forget about school when she played her guitar. She realized she was still holding the book in her hands, and handed it to Ed. He glanced at it, then flipped it open.

"Those are all pictures of September eleventh and the days afterward," Robyn explained, motioning at the book.

"On September eleventh, 2001, two terrorist planes crashed into the World Trade Center," he read aloud. Robyn turned away as Ed started flipping through the pages. She could still remember the horror she had first felt when she saw it on the news.

"Hey Robyn?" Ed asked, jolting Robyn out of her thoughts. She looked over at Ed. "Is this you?" he asked, pointing at a girl in one of the pictures. She was wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt, and her face even looked like Robyn's but her black hair went halfway down her back.

Robyn glanced at the picture and smiled a little. "Yeah, and that man next to me is my dad," she said, pointing to a man with a goatee. Ed looked at the picture, and then back at Robyn, waiting for her to explain. Robyn took a deep breath. "My mom - " she paused, "My mom had an interview at the World Trade Center on September eleventh. When my dad and I heard the news, we drove there right away. We wanted a plane, but because of the terrorists, that wasn't really possible. When we got there, the fire department was going through the rubble. They hadn't found my mom yet, but we couldn't find her with any of the survivors either, so we rented a hotel. A few days later we were told that they had found my mom, and that she was - " Robyn stopped. Ed looked at her sympathetically. "Everybody in school heard about. After all, we live in Massachusetts. New York is an entirely different state. Everybody was trying to be nice about it and all, but…I just wanted my mom back. So I started yelling at anybody who said stuff like 'sorry about your loss,' or 'we heard the news, that's so sad.' Eventually they just started to leave me alone." She looked back up at Ed, silent for a moment. "If my mom had gotten that job, we would have had an entirely different life. We would have been right in the area of one of my old friends if we had moved, and we would have had more money to get a nicer house, but instead those terrorists had to - " she stopped and closed her eyes, and Ed put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, at least you can remember your mom," he said. Robyn looked up at him.

"You can't remember your mom?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"I was found in the woods, with no memory of anything, other than my name was Edward, and my mom was dead. Luckily, there was a nice couple I met who decided to be my foster parents."

"You can't remember anything about your past?" Robyn said in astonishment. "That's awful."

'Well," Ed said, "I can remember this little boy with dirty blond hair, but only faintly." He tried digging deep into his memory to remember something, anything, then gave up and said, "I can't even remember his name, or why he was important to me."

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

AdventureAddict: Ha! Seven pages! I hope that makes up for my long break. . 

Kairi Angel: You made my character girly. (glares)

AdventureAddict: Yeah, I did, but Robyn has a big part of you in her because she's all emo and tomboy. Kari just has your screen name thingy.

Kairi Angel: I don't cut myself! . 

AdventureAddict: Neither does Robyn! So ha! (Sticks out tongue)

Kairi Angel: (Looks at Ed) Short.

Ed: RAAAGH!!! (Attacks)

AdventureAddict: Heeheehee. Hey, where did Frodo go? (Muffled screams come from closet) Kairi Angel! What did you do?!

Kairi Angel: (Eating) Eh? o.o

Ed: You ate Frodo?!

Crowd: What the-?

AdventureAddict: (looks over at Ed) And guess who's the next midget on the menu? (She looks over at Ed, who runs from room screaming)

ED: Help me! They're nuts! Aaahhh!

AdventureAddict: Haha! Nice one Kairi Angel! Frodo, you can come out now! (no answer) Frodo?

Kairi Angel: Mmmm…

AdventureAddict: Kairi Angel!!!!

(A/N: Please, please, please review! See what I'm reduced to? BEGGING! The button is right down there, see, see, see? All you have to do is one little click. Please?)


	5. Full Metal

AdventureAddict: Yay! I'm so excited! Chapter five is going to be fun! Ed is goin' to anime club! And yes, my school actually has an anime club. Ha-ha! (Blows a raspberry)

Kairi Angel: If you guys want one, then just ask your school…

Frodo: Rrr-ight…AdventureAddict doesn't own Fullmetal Alchemist, just to get that out of the way.

(Cricket chirps)

AdventureAddict: Now what?

Ed: You could stop talking.

AdventureAddict: No way! I'm just gonna keep talking and talking…hey, are you fading me out? You're fading me out! Cut that out! This is my fanfic!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Five – Full Metal

Robyn crawled out of her bed on Monday morning. She really hated Mondays. _Really _hated them. Especially when the weekend had consisted of stealing Ed's newspaper and waiting for him to come over and rant at her to give it back. And she would give it back to him. After an hour when he got tired of doing the chicken dance on one leg, she would throw it at the back of his head as he walked away.

She slid over to her closet and looked at her shirts. She first pulled on a thin shirt that went down to her elbows. Then she started pawing through her T-shirts. She wanted something funny for anime club today. If she was going to announce her doom by taking Ed to anime club, she was going to announce it with a joke. Finally she settled on one that read: "I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's hard to pronounce." She loved that shirt.

Robyn pulled on a pair of jeans and skater shoes along with the shirt and walked down to the dining room. She suddenly stopped at the sight that greeted her in the kitchen.

Her father was sitting at the table casually eating scrambled eggs. Next to him sat another plate of eggs and two presents. One was large and fluffy, the other was small and hard. At least, that's what it looked like. They were so badly wrapped that Robyn wasn't really sure.

"What's going on Dad? It's not my birthday yet," Robyn said looking suspiciously at the packages.

"I know, but Friday I'm leaving on a business trip, so I figured we'd celebrate a week early," he explained.

"A business trip?!" Robyn said, sliding into the chair next to him. "How long will you be gone?"

"Only a week."

"A week! Don't I need someone around so that the government doesn't come knocking on our door?" Robyn asked, taking a forkful of eggs.

Her father chuckled, "Yes, and I already asked our neighbors, and they agreed. So I want you to have a suitcase packed and ready by Friday." He reached out and ruffled her hair affectionately.

Robyn's fork clattered to her plate, partly because of what he said, partly because he had ruffled her hair. "What?! The Gurps?! Can't I please stay at Kari's? Please?" she begged. Ever since she was little, if her parents had needed a babysitter, they had asked the Gurps. To put it simply, the Gurps loved broccoli, and Robyn hated it. Such people could not live together in harmony. "Please dad, let me stay at Kari's," she begged again. She would do anything (well, almost anything) to escape the wrath of broccoli. Her father chuckled. "I hardly think this is a laughing matter," Robyn scoffed.

"Robyn you know very well you can't stay at Kari's. They have a dog, and you're so allergic to dogs. Besides," he laughed, "I know how much you hate broccoli, so I asked our other neighbors to watch you, not the Gurps." Robyn hugged him in relief, then realized who she would be staying with.

Ed.

But she didn't dare tell her dad. Oh no, if she told him there was a boy her age in that house, it'd be right back to the Gurps. Hello, broccoli.

"Well, go ahead and open your presents," her dad said, motioning to the packages next to her. Robyn eagerly turned to them and picked up the small package, quickly unwrapping it. Inside it was a small gold cardboard box. She pulled the top off to reveal a necklace made out of guitar picks. (Not _made_ out of guitar picks, they're attached to a chain like charms)

"Aw, dad, I wanted one of these so bad," she gasped, picking it up and fastening it around her neck. Her dad smiled.

"The next one is better," he said, motioning for her to open the big fluffy one. Robyn grabbed it. The package was warm and soft in her hands. She ripped off the wrapping paper and out tumbled a red sweatshirt. Robyn picked it up off her lap and looked at it. On the back was the same symbol Ed had on the back of his jacket. A small (A/N: Robyn will kill me if I don't say this: Tiny, extremely small, in fact, so high only the neighborhood dogs could hear it.) squeal escaped from Robyn's lips and she quickly gave her dad a bone-crushing hug, then pulled it over her head.

"You like it then?" her dad asked.

Robyn twirled in a circle, arms outstretched. "I LOVE it!" she squealed happily. Her dad smiled at her.

"You better go to school or you'll be late," he said, glancing at the clock. Robyn looked over.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said, standing up and stretching. Her father stood up and she gave him one last hug. "Thanks dad," she mumbled into his shirt. He just patted her on the back softly.

Ed sat in chemistry class, waiting for Robyn. Chemistry was so boring when no one was there. He still couldn't believe he had told her about how he had no memory. He had planned not to tell that to anyone. There was just something about Robyn that made him trust her.

'Maybe I knew her once!' Ed thought suddenly. There certainly were times when it seemed like she knew him, sometimes even better than he knew himself. Ed was suddenly curious about Robyn. He reached back into his memory, trying to remember anything he possibly could about Robyn. Suddenly, the only previous memory he had, the one of the boy with blonde hair, flashed through his mind. Ed was about to pull away when he realized this memory was different. This time the boy was running towards Ed, and Ed suddenly felt a pang of guilt.

"Brother!" the boy cried, a wide grin on his face. He kept running towards Ed. He looked so innocent and happy, and Ed felt so guilty. Ed quickly tried to pull away from the memory, but not before the boy had let out one more cry of "Brother!" echoing in Ed's ears.

'Brother? I have a brother? But why did I feel so guilty? Did I… kill him?' Ed thought, horrified.

Suddenly Robyn walked into the classroom. Ed looked at her as she walked over to the seat next to him, then noticed that the symbol on her sweatshirt was the same as the one on the back of his jacket, and the words, 'Fullmetal Alchemist' ran up one sleeve.

"Where did you get that?" he asked curiously.

Robyn looked down in horror at her sweatshirt. She didn't realize she had worn it into the classroom. "Uh, birthday present," she mumbled truthfully.

Ed looked at her suspiciously, remembering how he thought he might have known her before. Robyn sat in the seat next to him and was silent for the rest of class. One time Robyn glanced at Ed during class, and noticed transmutation circles scribbled all over his paper.

Robyn cautiously walked into the classroom where anime club was meeting. She breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that Ed wasn't there yet, and no one seemed to be paying attention to her. She quickly shoved her stuff underneath a desk and slid into the seat. She stared quietly at the random pencil marks on the desk, when there was another creak at the door. Ed was standing there, along with all the other kids in anime club, all admiring his 'costume,' and trying to get him to sit with them. Ed seemed a little bewildered by the whole thing. Then he spotted Robyn sitting all by herself at a desk. Relieved, Ed pushed his way through the crowd and sat down next to her. The other students noticed the matching jacket and sweatshirt and left them alone, but Robyn knew that there would be ridiculous rumors going through school tomorrow.

"Okay everyone, quiet!" yelled a girl with blue hair at the front of the class. After everyone had stopped talking, she continued at a rate so fast most people would have thought she was on drugs, (Don't bother trying to read this) "Hieveryonemynamesallisonbuteverybodycallsmefredsoyoushouldtoandwelcometoanimeclubiknowthatweregoingtohavetonsoffunthisyearandwemightevengettshirtsbutanywaybacktotodaysagendatodayweregoingtowatchkikisdeliveryserviceandiknowyoureallgoingtoloveitcuzitsanawsomemovieanditsanime!Kay?"

(Translation: "Hi everyone, my name's Allison, but everybody calls me Fred, so you should to. And welcome to anime club, I know that we're going to have tons of fun this year and we might even get t-shirts, but anyway, back to today's agenda. Today were going to watch Kiki's Delivery Service and I know you're all going to love it, because it's an awesome movie, and its anime! Kay?"

'Fred,' paused and looked around the room. She seemed thoughtful for a second, then said, "Oh yeah! And I'm the president of anime club!" Ed snorted, casing the Fred to glare at him. She looked like she would crush him, but then said, "Hey, I bet you're shorter than the real Ed!" she said gleefully, making Ed very angry, blah, blah, blah, you know the drill by now.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT NOT EVEN A METAL DETECTOR CAN FIND HIM?!?!" Ed lunged towards Fred, but Robyn quickly grabbed him. Fred laughed at Ed, (only making him angrier) while the rest of the rest of the class watched suspiciously at Ed while he struggled against Robyn's grip in much the same way he struggled against Al's grip.

"LET ME GO! I'LL CUT HER INTO A THOUSAND PIECES AND THEN STOMP THE PIECES DEEP WITHIN THE EARTH'S CRUST, AND WHEN I GET TIRED OF THAT, I'LL DUCT TAPE HER BACK TOGETHER AND DO IT AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN!!" He screeched, writhing against Robyn's arm.

Robyn noticed how everybody (except Fred, who was still laughing) was starting to consider that 'Ed' really was Edward Elric. (Being the anime geeks they are) Robyn quickly grabbed hers and Ed's backpacks and dragged them and Ed out the door, closing it behind them.

"What the crap was that?!" Ed yelled, wriggling out of Robyn's grip. "What did she mean 'the real Ed?!"

Robyn looked at him for a minute, then threw his backpack at him. "Come on," she said, turning and sling her backpack over her shoulder.

Robyn stopped in font of her hose, pulled out the key and unlocked the door. She led Ed over to a sofa in front of a TV, where they both dumped their stuff. Ed collapsed on the sofa, tired out from his little 'emotional outburst.' Meanwhile, Robyn walked over to a few shelves of movies and started running her finger across them. She finally grabbed one and snapped it open, pulled out the disc, then tosse the empty case to Ed, who caught it just in time.

He was about to ask Robyn what a movie had to do with anime club, when he looked at the cover. There was a boy who looked exactly like him on the front.

"Fullmetal Alchemist?" he asked, reading the words printed on the front. Robyn nodded and put the DVD in.

"I figured that you hadn't seen it before, because then you would have known why the kids were freaking out." She said, sitting on the sofa with a remote in her hand. When the menu popped up, Robyn quickly pressed 'play,' while Ed watched with his eyes popping and his mouth hanging open.

_2 hours and 4 episodes later…_

Robyn looked over at Ed. He was staring at the bank screen, a look of utter amazement on his face.

"I can only imagine how weird that was," Robyn said, jerking Ed out of his trance to look at her.

"That boy – Alphonse," he said slowly, "He's the boy I remember. I can remember him calling me," Ed paused, and Robyn waited patiently for him to finish "calling me Brother."

A smile quickly spread across Robyn's face. "Then that proves that you really are Ed! See? Now you know what your past is!" She said happily.

Ed looked at her, obviously not happy about this. "Yeah, but back when I didn't know my past I could have been anything. Still a little scary, but…Now I know who I am, and what I've done – to my own brother," He said sadly.

"So do you really have the automail?" Robyn asked. Ed looked back at her, then tugged off his right glove, revealing a shiny metal hand. Robyn slowly reached two fingers towards it, and after noticing that Ed wasn't stopping her, she gently touched it.

Ed's automail didn't feel anything like Robyn imagined it would. It was extremely smooth and Winry's design made it look lighter than it really was. Ed wiggled his pinky finger, and Robyn could feel the movement all the way in his pointer finger. But the weirdest thing about it was that it felt slightly warm, not cold like Robyn would expect metal to be. Robyn pulled her fingers away from the automail, and Ed slid his glove back on.

"That's not the weirdest thing though," he said, standing up and motioning for Robyn to follow. He led her over to his house and down to the basement, both of them going at a brisk pace in excitement. In the corner of the basement stood something very large that had been covered with a white sheet. Ed grabbed a corner of the sheet.

"This was next to me when they found me," Ed said, pulling the sheet off. The sheet quickly fell to the floor, revealing the suit of armor Al's soul had been attached to.

Robyn gasped, then looked closer. "Something's wrong. His eyes aren't glowing," she said peering at the helmet. "Is the blood rune in there?" Ed walked forward and pulled the helmet off for them to see. The blood rune was definitely in there, in what Robyn knew was Ed's own blood. Robyn looked over at Ed and saw a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead. Afraid he might get a little emotional, Robyn quickly grabbed the helmet and placed it back on the armor. Ed looked over at Robyn and gave her what looked like a tiny smile. Or maybe that's just what she wanted to see.

Robyn stepped back and looked at the armor. "I don't get it," she said, "If the blood rune is in there…" she trailed off, walking in a circle around the armor. "Maybe if we do some research, then…" Ed held up a hand to silence her.

"I have a different idea," he said, "Step back." Robyn dutifully took a step backward. Ed looked at the armor for a second, then swung a powerful roundhouse kick with his right foot, hitting the center of the chest plate.

"Hello? Anybody in there?" he yelled, now hitting the armor with his fists. After receiving no response, he swung another roundhouse kick, this time with his left foot, leaving a small dent. Ed collapsed on the floor, looking up at the armor in despair. Robyn stared at Ed, unsure of what to do, when Ed suddenly stood up and looked straight up into where there should have been glowing eyes.

"Al?" he asked softly, sounding unsure of himself.

Nothing seemed to happen. Robyn was about to turn away when a soft white glow started deep within the eye sockets.

"Brother?" a small echoing voice asked.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

_**READ THIS!!!! VERY IMPORTANT!!!!**_

Okay, I got a few things to say to all you lovely readers without Frodo or Ed interrupting me, so here goes…

Issue #1: Sorry it took me so long to update, part of the problem is that I'm putting more in the chapters, (Six pages this time!) part is that we got Sims 2 pets and I was testing that out. Ehehe. Sorry. (I did make Ed, Al and Winry characters though…)

Issue #2:Me and my friend are considering making this into a web comic. I would still write this of course, but I want to know if anybody is actually interested.

Issue #3: Are any of you interested in character profiles? I could get those out pretty quickly as filler between chapters…

Issue #4: I need ideas for the name of Robyn's older brother. I could name him Edward for drama, but I think that's unoriginal and boring.

Until next time, I'll leave you all with this nice little cliffie and I won't post until you review! Muahahahahahahaha!!!


	6. Cut and Dye

AdventureAddict: Wow, I got so many reviews on that last chapter. I'm so happy! I was going to play Sims, but this is a…I guess a reward…for sending so many reviews! That's right, I will give up my Sims time to make you guys happy because you made me happy! Let this be a lesson for the future – REVIEW!!!

Ed: Oh brother.

AdventureAddict: Shut up, midget.

Ed: Hey! You keep calling me a midget when there's someone shorter than me here! (Glares at Frodo)

Frodo: (Sticks out tongue) At least I don't look like a girl.

Ed: (lip quivers) What? Arrgh!!! (Transmutes arm into a blade and attacks Frodo)

AdventureAddict: Yeah…I'm kinda glad that I don't own characters like them…On with chapter, uh six? Yeah, Six! Wow, I never thought I'd get this far!!! (Don't worry; I'll keep it up)

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Six – Girly-Girl

Ed collapsed on the floor, looking up at the armor in despair. Robyn stared at Ed, unsure of what to do, when Ed suddenly stood up and looked straight up into where there should have been glowing eyes.

"Al?" he asked softly, sounding unsure of himself.

Nothing seemed to happen. Robyn was about to turn away when a soft white glow started deep within the eye sockets.

"Brother?" a small echoing voice asked.

"Brother! You're okay!" Al yelled, while scooping Ed up into a big bear hug.

"Thanks for telling me that," Ed said sarcastically, wincing in pain as Al squeezed him. Al quickly put him down.

"Sorry, Ed," Al looked around the room for the first time and noticed Robyn standing nervously off to one side. "Who is she?" he asked.

"Robyn," Ed mumbled. He looked over at her with a tiny smile, "She helped me find you." Robyn just continued staring up at Al as if she was in a trance.

Al politely stuck out a hand. "Nice to meet you Ms. Robyn," he said kindly. Robyn took his hand a shook it, still in a daze. She was still staring at him when suddenly something snapped.

"WOW! YOU'RE ACTUALLY REAL! NOBODY THOUGHT THAT YOU WERE ACTUALLY REAL AND THEY THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY BUT YOU ACTUALLY ARE REAL!! I MEAN WITH ED IT WAS POSSIBLE TO THINK HE WAS JUST SOME CRAZY KID WHO HATED BEING CALLED SHORT-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIECE OF DUST SO SMALL THAT EVEN A VACUUM CLEANER WITH SUPER SUCTION ACTION COULDN'T PICK IT UP?!?!" Al shook his head as Ed started on his usual ranting.

"-BUT YOU'RE ACTUALLY HERE! THAT PROVES THAT IT'S ALL REAL!!! I'M NOT INSANE! THE ELRIC BROTHERS ARE REAL!!! HA HA HA HA!" Robyn suddenly stopped and stood still, quivering slightly with an insane grin on her face. Ed stopped struggling from Al's grip to stop and stare at her.

"What's she mean, 'the Elric brothers are real?' Of course we're real," Al said, looking over to Ed.

Ed turned back to look at Al. "Yeah, but over here there's a show called 'Fullmetal Alchemist.' I saw the first four episodes today," he explained.

"ReallY? That's so cool!" Al thought for a moment, then asked, "Is Nina in it?"

'Nina?' Ed thought. He definitely couldn't remember anybody named Nina, and he hadn't seen one in the show, but maybe they just hadn't identified her yet or something. He looked over to Robyn for help, but unluckily for him, she was still in her own little world, grinning broadly.

"Brother? What's wrong?"

Ed looked back over at Al, a defeated look on his face. "Al, the only memory I have left is a little bit of you and mom. Other than that, the only stuff I know is from what I saw on the show."

"You don't remember any of the stuff we did together?" Al asked sadly.

Ed shook his head. "Sorry," he said softly.

"It's okay, Brother, it's not your fault. We'll find a way to get it back." Al said happily. Ed grinned up at him, grateful for having such a great brother. Meanwhile, off in her corner, Robyn fainted.

"Is she okay?" Al asked, looking over at the strange girl.

"Eh, she'll be fine. I'll get a glass of water," Ed said carelessly, walking upstairs. Once Robyn had woken up, the three of them sat down and tried to figure out what to do. They all agreed that Al shouldn't leave the basement, because that would arouse too much suspicion, and it was a safe place anyway, and that Ed should start wearing different clothes at least until Ed and Al found a way home.

A few months ago… 

Ed woke up stretched out in a hospital bed. _'Where am I?'_ he thought as he looked around the room. Lying in the bed next to him was a boy with tousled red hair, a heart rate monitor beeping next to him. Ed looked to the side of his own bed and noticed that there was one sitting next to him too, keeping track of his pulse. He looked down at himself, and noticed that he was pretty beat up himself. He wiggled the fingers on his left hand. They seemed fine. He turned to his right hand and wiggled those fingers, then looked in horror as he saw a metal hand wiggle it's fingers rather than a normal hand. He looked at it closely. It seemed pretty well attached to him, maybe even down to the nerves, since he could control it with just his thoughts.

"That must have hurt," he said softly. He then left the arm alone to see how the rest of his body was. His chest seemed pretty fine, a little sore, but all in one piece. He slowly checked the rest of his body, gently touching (Okay fangirls, enough with the squealing) to see where any bruises or scrapes were. He reached down to touch his toes, and his left hand brushed against metal. He slowly traced his fingers up his leg in horror, metal replacing his leg almost halfway up. It seemed to work the same way his arm did, if he thought he wanted to move his leg, it moved, metal working the same way as bone and tissue. A pretty nurse in a clean white uniform suddenly walked in, and noticed that Ed was awake.

"Oh! You're up!" she said, softly enough so that no one would chew her out for yelling in a hospital, but about as loud as she could get otherwise.

"Where am I?" Ed asked her as she changed the charts hanging on the board across from his bed. Ed noticed that there was a blank where his name was supposed to be.

"Hinsdale Central Hospital," she answered curtly. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Ed shook his head. "Okay," she continued, "Do you know what your first name is?"

"Edward."

The nurse smiled at him and quickly wrote it on the chart. "Good! Do you know what your last name is?"

Ed struggled with that one a little more. He tried desperately to remember something, but after coming up with nothing, he said, "No."

The nurse seemed a little disappointed. "Oh. Where are you from?"

"I don't know."

"Do you have any parents or guardians?" she asked him.

Ed tried desperately to remember something, and after a few minutes, he said, "My mom is dead."

"What about your father? Do you know where he is?"

"No," Ed said, getting a little frustrated with the woman.

"Please, Edward, we're just doing this so we can try to get you home," she said patiently. Ed stared back at her.

"I don't have a home," he said calmly.

"What makes you say that?"

Ed thought for a second. "I don't know," he answered simply. The nurse sighed and walked out of the room, her work done. Ed sat in his bed for a while, moping, when two people walked into the room and over to the red-haired boy's side.

"Edward," the woman said softly. Ed looked over curiously. Sure enough, the name on the boy's chart read 'Edward Elliott.' Suddenly, the woman looked up and noticed Ed looking at them curiously. Ed grinned nervously, hoping they wouldn't yell at him for spying.

"Hello,' the woman said, making the man look over. "It's good to see you're finally awake. I'm Sherry, and this is my husband, Robert."

"I'm Edward," Ed said casually. "Is he your son?" The woman nodded. "What happened to him?" Ed asked.

The woman took a deep breath, "He was driving home from play practice when his car was hit by a drunk driver." Ed looked at the boy. He didn't seem much older than Ed himself, maybe a year or two. Ed suddenly thought that he must have looked like that just the other day, when he was still unconscious.

"It's nice that he has parents like you two to care for him," Ed said softly.

The woman looked up from her son to look at Edward. "And you don't?" she asked. Ed just shook his head.

Sherry and Robert stayed for hours, sitting silently by their son's bed. One time, Sherry ran off to the vending machine to get food for herself and her husband, and even a granola bar for Ed. (Even though he didn't ask for anything) When a nurse finally came in and told them that visiting hours were over, the two silently got up and walked into the hall, where they started a hushed conversation about the boy in the bed next to their son.

"I'm serious Kar, he really is Edward Elric!" Robyn said as she and Kari walked to gym the next day.

"Yeah, Robyn, and the boy named Harry in my math class is really Harry Potter. Are you sure you're not sick?" she asked Robyn as they opened the doors. Ed was already dressed (HOODIE!) and waiting in the gym, looking very bored.

"He sure is fast," Kari commented.

"It comes from fighting guys like Scar," Robyn hissed back, then walked over to Ed. "Hey, Ed," she said casually, loud enough for Kari to hear, "So how's your brother, _Al_, doing?" Kari rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I guess," Ed looked at Robyn suspiciously, "You did just see him last night. But he would like to borrow the first disc of Fullmetal Alchemist" Ed added in a hushed whisper, "He wants to see if the camera really does add ten pounds."

Robyn nodded, "Okay, you can stop by my house after school and pick it up." She then trotted back to Kari's side. "See? I told you," she said triumphantly.

Kari looked at Robyn in astonishment. "What you didn't tell was that you were getting all buddy-buddy with a guy! A real guy!" she hissed excitedly at Robyn.

Robyn looked back at her, horrified. "No…I didn't…" she stuttered.

Kari just shook her head, "You told him to come over to your house after school."

"Because he wants to borrow Fullmetal Alchemist!" Robyn hissed.

"You could have given it to him tomorrow at school." Robyn's jaw dropped. Kari was absolutely right, she could have given it to him tomorrow at school. Now Kari was expecting them to start dating in a few weeks, all because Robyn was trying to loan Ed a DVD.

"Fine," she said, deciding not to push Kari, since this was one issue she wouldn't budge on. "Will you at least admit that he's really Ed?"

"He's really Ed."

"Edward Elric?"

"No."

Robyn groaned and threw her arm up in the air. Oh fine, maybe after I do this you'll believe me. She started tiptoeing across the gym, and then suddenly broke into a run and did a roundhouse kick aimed right toward Ed's face. Kari was about to scream when Ed lazily blocked Robyn with his right hand. Robyn fell to the ground, whimpering in pain. (You would too if you hit Ed's automail at top speed!) Ed looked in surprise at his own arm. The reflex had come so easily, so naturally, he didn't have time to react. Suddenly, Robyn leapt to her feet and got into a fighting stance in front of her. Ed looked at her, then grinned and did the same. The gym was completely silent for a minute of two, and then both Ed and Robyn leapt into action. At first Ed just did basic moves to protect himself, not remembering any of the fighting techniques he had learned over the years. But as he kept fighting, he started quickly remembering fighting moves he didn't even remember learning. He very slowly started to push Robyn back, gaining the advantage. The two of them finally stopped when they realized that all the kids in their class and their teacher were gathered in a circle around them. The entire class burst into applause when both Robyn's and Ed's hands dropped to their sides.

Ed looked over at Robyn. "Don't tell me you know all those moves from watching TV," he panted.

Robyn grinned at him, "Nope. I'm a black belt in karate."

Ed walked over with a tray loaded with food and set it down across from Robyn. She had already eaten half her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and Ed noticed happily that she had packed a Coke instead of buying milk. The two of them were eating silently and happily, when Fred walked past, her hair dyed back and white like zebra stripes.

"Hey!" she yelled, suddenly pointing at Ed, "I know you! You're that kid from anime club!" She quickly ran over and sat down next to Robyn, who looked annoyed. Her look was nothing compared to Ed's, though. He looked ready to kill a thousand of the sweetest, cutest bunnies. Robyn could practically feel the flames leaping off his body.

"Why aren't you wearing your cool costume?" Fred asked, reaching over to poke Ed, "Huh? Why not? Why? Huh?"

"I didn't feel like it," Ed growled.

"Well, you're jacket is way cooler than a stupid hoodie," she said, pulling a pout. Ed looked ready to stab her with the spork clutched in his hand.

"Fred, don't you have somewhere you're supposed to be?" Robyn asked as politely as she could. She normally would have just kept silent, but she was afraid that Fred wouldn't exist by tomorrow if she kept talking to Ed.

"I'm supposed to be in Geometry, but I'm in the 'bathroom,'" Fred said with an insane giggle, holding her fingers up to do air quotes.

"THEN GO TO THE #$ING BATHROOM!!" Ed yelled at her. Fred stood up unhappily.

"Fine, I will Mr. Party Pooper," she said, and with that she got up and walked off. Ed rubbed his temples, his eyes closed.

Robyn was just about to start enjoying the quiet again when a boy in a football jersey came up and leaned on their table.

"Hey, Baby," he said coolly, "How about going to the homecoming dance with me?" It was more a statement than a question, as if he expected that no one could turn him down.

Robyn looked up at him. "Ew," She blinked, "No."

The boy looked at her in surprise. "I wasn't talking to you," he said, "I was talking to your short blond friend." Ed looked up in surprise, and his jaw dropped to the table. Robyn would have expected him to yell something about his height, but he was obviously too surprised at being mistaken for a girl. A _pretty_ girl.

Robyn quickly hid the grin threatening to creep onto her cheeks. "Oh, you mean, Ed?" she said. The boy looked at Ed in disgust.

"Ed? Ew, no way," he said, and quickly walked away. Ed just sat at the table, as silent and still as a statue. Robyn waved her hand in front of him.

"Hello? Ed? Anybody home?" she said, continuing to wave her hand in front of him. Ed sat there for the rest of lunch, not moving or even blinking until the bell rang, when he got up and walked away like a zombie.

Robyn sat at home silently, the first Fullmetal Alchemist disc in her lap. It had been and hour since they got out of school, and after lunch, Ed had disappeared. She was a little worried about him. Who knew what being honesty mistaken for a girl could do to a guy's ego. She got up and walked over to his house and rang the doorbell, the DVD clutched in her hand. She didn't hear any sound coming from the house at all, which seemed a little weird, considering that it was the Elric brothers' house. She slowly put her hand and the doorknob and twisted it, the door swinging inward.

"Hello?" she called out, walking into the house. She looked around, then heard Al cry "Robyn!" from the basement. Robyn quickly ran over to the door and swung it open, then slid down the banister, hoping to save time in case he was in trouble. Al looked up from his spot on the sofa, the TV blaring in front of him.

"Hello," he said calmly.

Robyn smiled at him, "Hi. Do you know where Ed is?"

Al thought for a minute. "I think he's in his room. He was kind of quiet when he got home," he said.

Robyn nodded. "Thanks," she said, and then looked down at the DVD case in her hand. "Here," she said, tossing it to Al, "Ed said you wanted to see this."

Al looked down at it happily, "Thanks," he said, snapping it open, then looked down at the tiny thin disc in dismay. He looked at his own large hands. "Uh, Robyn? Could you put it in for me? I'm afraid I might break it." Robyn smiled and nodded, then walked over and opened the DVD player, then placed the disc in the little holder and closed it again.

"Thanks," Al said happily as the menu popped up on the screen in front of him.

"No problem," Robyn said, heading upstairs. She walked back into the living room, and headed up a second set of stairs, hoping they led to the bedrooms. The first door she opened was an office, then a bedroom with a double bed, then a plain bedroom that Robyn guessed was a guest room. Maybe that was where she would be staying next week. She opened the door next to it and saw a bedroom almost as plain as the guest room, except it had Ed's backpack lying on the bed and his red jacket draped over his desk chair. Robyn frowned, then went to the door across the hall and opened that. That room was the upstairs bathroom, Robyn immediately found out. Ed was standing in front of the mirror, his left hand holding the bottom of his braid tight, the second holding a pair of scissors over the top.

"NO!!" Robyn cried out and leaped towards Ed, knocking the scissors out of his hands and pinning him to the floor. The both quickly got up and Robyn grabbed the scissors. "You can't cut your hair!" she yelled at Ed.

"Why not?!" he yelled back, "It's my hair!"

"Because…" Robyn started, trying desperately to think of something logical, something that would make him not want to cut his hair. "Because…it's cool, that's why!" she yelled, not able to think of anything better.

"Oh yeah, it's real cool to have a guy ask you out!" Ed yelled back.

Robyn sagged. "Ed, is this about what happened at lunch?" she asked softly. Ed just stared at the floor. "You don't look like a girl, " she said slowly, "And football players are jerks and idiots," she paused, "Well, at least that one. I can't think of a single girl who'd like to be asked out that way." Robyn looked at Ed, who seemed a little bit better.

He looked up at Robyn, "Thanks Robyn," he said softly, then added, "Besides, I think my hair would look much better brown, don't you?"

"WHAT?!"

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

AdventureAddict: Hee hee hee…that was fun…I can't believe a wrote eight pages…all in one sitting!!! This is your lesson – REVIEW!!! And thank you to Kairi and David who helped me think up the whole 'Hey Baby' scene.

(Ed walks in with a rainbow Mohawk)

AdventureAddict: What?! You weren't supposed to actually cut or dye your hair!!!

Ed: I look much more rebellious this way though, don't I?

AdventureAddict: Frodo, please kill him. (Frodo leaps onto Ed, who starts fighting back furiously) oh yeah, and the part where Kari mentions a Harry in her class being Harry Potter, if you guys are interested in me making that into a sequel, I'd be more than happy to do it…

Frodo: Hey! You're skimping out on me again!!!

AdventureAddict: Shut up.


	7. Crash, Bang and Boom

Kairi Angel: I'm starting this one, Damnit!

Ed: Oh crap…

Kairi Angel: Chibi.

Ed: Nani?!

Frodo: I don't understand a word you two are saying!

AdventureAddict: Get used to it. Even though Kairi Angel doesn't have a drop of japenese blood in her, half her vocabulary is made up of Japanese words. (yawns) I don't know what else to say. Go ahead and take control of this Author's note, Kairi.

Ed: NOOOOO!!!!

Kairi Angel: (Evil stare)

Frodo: Sam! Save me!!!

AdventureAddict: Ugh, I feel brain-dead…ugh…I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist…ugh…

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Seven – Crash, Bang and Boom

Roy was sitting calmly at his desk. He was supposed to be doing paperwork, but paperwork was so…blah. Besides, why do paperwork when he had someone like Riza? He smiled at the thought of Riza. Riza would look so great in a mini skirt. Then, as if in answer to his thoughts, Riza walked in the room with a grim expression on her face. (As she always does)

"Lieutenant Colonel," she said curtly. He nodded to her, signaling for her to continue. "There's been some bad news concerning the Elric brothers," she said, jumping right into business.

Roy rolled his eyes. "I don't hear _bad_ news about anyone else," he said with a sigh, "What is it this time?"

"They've disappeared, sir."

Roy sat up in his seat. "Disappeared?" he asked, puzzled.

"Yes, sir."

Roy slouched back in his chair, deep in thought for a few minutes. Was this just the Elric brothers being themselves, or were they actually in trouble? "Could it be the work of Scar?" he asked.

"We couldn't find any trace of him nearby where the Elrics were last seen," Riza said, flipping through some notes on a clipboard, "No other dangerous criminals were found around the area either."

Roy thoughtfully clasped his hands together. "Where were they last seen?"

Robyn nervously stood outside Ed and Al's house and rang the doorbell, her knuckles turning white from the tight grip she held on her suitcase and her backpack slung over her shoulder. Soon a woman with long red hair came to the door.

"Hi, you must be Robyn," she said pleasantly. "I'm Sherry Elliott." Robyn just stood there with a 'I really don't care' expression on her face, but the woman didn't seem to notice. "Come on in," she said, opening the door wide enough for Robyn to pass. Robyn walked in and set her suitcase on the floor.

"Edward!" the woman yelled down to the basement, "Come say hello to our guest!" Robyn heard a muffled "What guest?" and the familiar clomping sound of Ed walking up the stairs.

"We just got Guitar Hero the other day," the woman explained to Robyn. "And Ed just can't seem to get enough of it."

'_It's probably more hanging out with his brother than playing what he would consider a silly game,_' Robyn thought with a grin. Ed appeared at the top of the stairs and stopped suddenly when he saw Robyn standing there nervously.

"Ed, this is Robyn. Her father is on a business trip, so she's going to be staying with us for a week," Sherry explained to Ed.

Ed looked at Robyn with a bored expression on his face. "We've met."

"Oh good," Sherry said happily. "Well, you show her around the house, then. I'm going to get dinner started," she said, walking off to what Robyn assumed was the kitchen.

Robyn grinned at Ed. "I heard you got Guitar Hero." Ed turned back towards the basement and shrugged carelessly.

"Yeah. Al likes it," he said, clomping back down the stairs. Robyn grinned happily and followed him. This was going to be an awesome week.

"Hey, Brother. So who's the guest?" Al asked as Ed walked down. Ed just took a step to the side. "Oh, hello!" Al said happily as he saw Robyn.

"Hi Al," Robyn said brightly. She couldn't help but be happy around someone as polite and sweet as Al. Robyn looked down at Al and saw a light transmutation circle on the ground in front of him. "Oo, Alchemy," Robyn said, walking down the rest of the stairs to kneel by Al's side.

"Yeah, I was trying to re-teach brother," Al said happily, glad to have someone else to talk to about alchemy.

"That's so cool!" Robyn said, gazing down at the circle as fondly as a mother would a child. "Could you give me a demonstration?" she asked, turning to look at Al with big puppy-dog eyes.

"Alchemy doesn't work here," Ed interrupted. "We learned that the hard way."

"Oh," Robyn said sadly, absently picking up a piece of chalk from the floor and tracing the circle on the ground, darkening the faded lines. Al watched with interest as she silently traced the transmutation circle. Once she had finished that, she looked around for something else to trace, and seeing none, started drawing the one circle she knew by heart – the one at the beginning of every Fullmetal Alchemist manga, underneath Hiromu Arakawa's picture. For a few minutes, Robyn just lost herself in the patterns and the smooth scrape of chalk against the cement floor of the basement. Ed and Al both hovered over her, watching in amazement as she carefully scratched the pattern out on the floor.

When Robyn finished, she looked around, and seeing nothing else to draw, tossed the chalk to the side and wiped the excess chalk dust on her jeans. She looked up at the brothers, who were staring down at her and her freshly drawn transmutation circle.

"What?" she asked innocently, standing up to look at them. Ed bent down and examined the circle, tracing his finger in the air above the perfect lines.

"Was that your first time drawing a transmutation circle?" Al asked, his voice a slight pitch higher than normal.

Robyn thought for a moment, then answered, "Yeah, I guess so." Al swayed slightly on the spot and Ed let out a low whistle from his spot on the floor. "What?" Robyn asked, still confused at their amazement.

"It took me hours to get that one so good," Ed said, motioning to the other circle. "And I've already learned this stuff once. And you probably can't see it now, but it was still a little wobbly," he looked back at Robyn's circle. "Yours looks like a computer drew it."

"What's a computer, Brother?" Al asked, confused by the new word. He shook it off, realizing that the answer would take too long and could be answered later. He turned back to Robyn and calmly explained, "It normally takes a long time to get a transmutation that steady, and even longer to get it drawn quickly. Even though people said we were extremely talented, it took us months of studying the theory, and then even longer to practice drawing the actual circle."

"Well, that was because you were kids," Robyn said, looking down at the circle. "Besides, I already know a bit of the theory from reading Fullmetal Alchemist."

"No," Al said simply. "It takes most people much longer, and some people never get it. That's why not everyone is an alchemist. And you can't have possibly learned as much of the theory as what's in _Beginner's Alchemy_."

It seems that you have a gift for alchemy," Ed said, standing up and brushing any extra chalk off his pants. Robyn gulped and looked back down at the circle. She had always had such perfect handwriting, and an extremely steady hand. Almost unnatural, some people had said. And back when she was little, she had carried around a small sketchbook just to draw all the different geometric designs that popped into her head. Adults thought it was cute, and said that she would probably grow up to be an architect, but what they didn't know was that Robyn _had_ to draw the designs. If she didn't, all the different patterns and shapes swirling around in her head would give her a headache. She looked over at Ed. Maybe that had been what Ed had been experiencing when he had drawn what looked like a million transmutation circles on his chemistry notes.

"That actually explains a lot," Robyn said softly. She looked up at Al. "Start at the beginning and teach me everything. I need to learn." She chuckled softly, "But I'd prefer it if you didn't teach me quite the same way your teacher did."

After four solid hours of studying without breaks, (Except for a very quick dinner) Robyn and Ed both had cramps, and were both a little cranky and short-tempered. They were about ready to scream if they didn't get a break. After finishing off their newest transmutation circles, they both stood and stretched out their joints, Robyn realizing that her foot had fallen asleep. She cursed and grabbed it, rubbing the foot to try and stop the little sparks of pain shooting through her foot. Unfortunately, she didn't have very good balance doing this, and ended up hopping around the room in circles on her good foot.

Al watched with a slight hint of jealousy. He would love to have any of the pain they were complaining about just to feel _something_. Robyn saw his head drooping from across the room, and realizing her mistake, gently put her foot down and limped back to where Ed and Al were standing, her foot feeling about three times as big s it normally did.

"So do you really have Guitar Hero?" Robyn asked, trying to distract Al. It seemed to work a little, since he picked up his head and looked at Robyn.

"Yes," he said brightly. "There's nothing like it in Amestris." Robyn grinned up at Al and shook out her foot, the pain finally gone. "You up for a game?" she asked and Al nodded happily. Ed rolled his eyes as Robyn and Al both walked over to the TV.

"You're rotting your brains," he told them, as he slouched onto the sofa, but they just ignored him. Robyn flicked on the PS2, then picked up one of the controllers and started scrolling through the songs. Al held the guitar lightly in his hands, his fingers hovering over the buttons. Robyn could tell that one of his fingers would take up the entire space of the button. He had obviously had practiced how to hold the guitar lightly enough so he wouldn't break it, but in a good enough grip to play.

"The easier ones are at the top," Al told her. He could tell that she had never played before. Robyn just shrugged, then abruptly stopped scrolling through the songs, the cursor highlighting 'Iron Man." Robyn grinned mischievously up at Al.

"Oh come on, there's no way we can't play this," she pleaded.

Al shrugged. "Fine. Go ahead," he said, know that this was one argument he wouldn't be able to win. Robyn grinned and shook her fist in the air triumphantly.

"What? How could I lose?" Robyn said, looking in bewilderment at the screen. "I actually play guitar! How could I lose?" Al looked at her sympathetically. He did have practice, and Robyn had chosen a slightly harder song for the first time she played it. Ed was over to the side; laughing so hard he was almost rolling on the floor. Robyn spun around to glare at him, but Ed didn't pay any attention to her. His face was almost blue from lack of air.

"Brother, calm down!" Al said in a worried tone, afraid of Ed suffocating himself. Ed took in deep gulps of air, still slightly laughing at Robyn. Robyn just crossed her arms and frowned.

"Brother, you're not being very nice," Al lectured, but Ed couldn't wipe the huge grin off his face.

Robyn sat on the couch, carelessly flipping through a book called Guitar Gods. It was early Saturday morning, and she knew the house would be stumbling awake soon. She knew she would probably go up to her room and change out of her pajamas soon, but she just felt like lying around right now. She sighed and laid back on the sofa, enjoying the cool morning air that tickled through her tank top and shorts.

Ed laid on top of his bed in just his boxers, his unbraided hair fanning out on the pillow behind him. (Down, fangirls, down!) Saturday morning felt good. It was a warm September morning, and since he wasn't going anywhere, he wouldn't have to wear long sleeves to cover up his automail. He took a deep breath, enjoying the silence of the house. He decided to get dressed and see if Robyn was up so they could start their alchemy lessons early. He slowly got up and walked to the closet, pulling out a pair of shorts. Maybe he would try kicking Robyn's butt at Guitar Hero today. He smiled at the memory of last night. The best part about that was that he had heard her play before, and she was a pretty good guitar player, but Al had about four times her score. He had just finished zipping his fly and was about to grab a shirt when he heard a scream from downstairs that made the hairs on his arm stand straight up. Robyn's scream, he could tell. At least now he knew she was awake. He quickly raced out of his room, his still unbraided hair flying out behind him. He ran towards the stairs and was about to go down them two at a time when he tripped and fell.

Al looked up from the transmutation circle in front of him. It sounded like someone had taught a pile of bricks how to swear and then pushed them down Mt. Everest. _'Brother…'_ he thought with a sigh.

The world was a muddy mess of colors, all twirling and spinning before Ed's eyes. He felt like he had been tossed in a blender at the highest setting. The worst part was that he had lost any control over his body, and every now and then he would feel a sharp kick from his own automail foot. He didn't even consciously think about the stream of swears coming from his mouth, they just all started tumbling out. Surprisingly, it did make Ed feel a little better. Not much, but a bit. Suddenly, the world stopped turning and Ed laid in a jumbled heap at the bottom of the stairs, moaning. His head hurt terribly, but Ed couldn't tell whether it was from the spinning, or being hit multiple times. He laid there in pain for a few minutes, wishing the day had never started when he remembered Robyn's shriek. He quickly stood up and stumbled into the living room, still dizzy.

Robyn wasn't in the living room, so Ed quickly made his way to the kitchen, using the furniture as supports. Robyn was standing by the sink in the kitchen, holding her thumb under the faucet. She seemed fine, but Ed could somehow smell a faint trace of blood, though he didn't wonder how he knew what blood smelled like.

"Are you okay?" he asked Robyn. She turned to look at him from the sink, her thumb cradled in her hand.

"I got a paper cut," she said pathetically. She expected Ed to yell at her or make some comment, but instead he just fell to the floor.

"Could someone please stop the world? I'd like to get off," he mumbled, cradling his aching head in his hands. His hair was rather frizzy after being tossed around so much and was sticking out at a few odd angles. Robyn quickly got a Ziploc bag and filled it with ice. She zipped it closed and offered it to Ed. Ed gratefully took it and held it to his head with his right hand so that the cold wouldn't bother him.

"Brother are you all right?" Al asked, coming in and looking in surprise at Ed on the floor and Robyn bending over him.

"He's all right, I think he just need to be taken back to bed," Robyn said as Ed laid there quietly. Robyn looked up at Al. "Could you," she started, know that Ed would be much too heavy with his automail for her to carry. Al gently placed his arms underneath Ed and slowly lifted him up. Robyn trotted ahead of the two opening any doors in Al's way. It took a bit of maneuvering with Al's large body, but they finally managed to get Ed back up in his bed, Al wrapping the sheets gently around him. After that, Robyn quickly ran to her room to change out of her pajamas, embarrassed that both Ed and Al had seen her in them.

Ed woke up in his bed with a huge headache. His sheets were tangled around his feet; probably from the usual tossing and turning he did during the night. He quickly untangled them with his right hand, holding his left hand to his head.

'_What happened?'_ he thought as he gently slipped a t-shirt over his head. Suddenly he remembered how he had fainted in front of Robyn. Without a shirt on. And her hanging above him in just her pajamas, or at least, he thought they were pajamas, since Robyn never wore anything that short normally. Ed blushed angrily as he remembered what had happened in the kitchen.

'_That girl is going to get it,'_ he thought as he ground his teeth and reached back to braid his hair. _'A paper cut!'_ He grabbed his hair in a rough ponytail and realized with a sigh that his hair was too tangled to braid, and too messed up to untangle with his comb. He needed a brush, and he didn't have one. He mumbled a few choice words under his breath, and then walked out of his room to find Robyn. First he would get a brush from her, _then_ he would kill her. After all, it would be much harder to kill her with hair falling in his face. He walked out into the hallway and knocked twice on her door before slowly pushing it open.

The room didn't show any signs of life except for an open suitcase on the floor and the tank top and shorts Robyn had been wearing earlier tossed on the bed. Ed walked over to the suitcase, hoping that Robyn would have a brush near the top, and any girl items near the bottom. He carefully shifted his hand through the different piles of long sleeve shirts and jeans. His fingers brushed against something hard and Ed curled his fingers around it and pulled it out.

It wasn't a hairbrush, or even something that resembled a hairbrush. Ed grumbled as he stared at the picture frame in his hands. He was about to throw it back into the suitcase when he took a second glance at it. It was a picture of a dark-haired boy with his arm around Robyn. Robyn was wearing a breezy dress and had long hair tied back in a ponytail. Both the boy and Robyn were grinning happily when the picture had been taken. Ed stared at the picture with a dumbstruck look on his face. That girl couldn't be Robyn. He wouldn't have thought it was Robyn if he hadn't recognized the face, along with her purple eyes glinting in the sunlight when the picture had been taken. If this was Robyn, what had happened to make her change so much?

"Look who finally woke up," a voice said from the doorway, "Enjoying yourself?" Ed turned to face the voice and saw Robyn leaning against the frame of the doorway, her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Robyn noticed the picture clutched in Ed's hands and a flash of anger danced across her eyes.

"Who's the guy?" Ed asked, holding up the picture innocently. Robyn had never mentioned a boyfriend. _'Of course, she didn't have a reason to mention a boyfriend,'_ Ed thought bitterly.

Robyn walked up and snatched the photo from Ed. "Luke. Now get out," she said with venom and finality in her voice. Robyn walked to the other side of the room, her back facing Ed and the door. Ed stood up and stared and Robyn angrily.

"Hey, I live here! You think you can-" he was cut off as she whirled around to face him, her eyes flaring with an anger Ed had never seen before.

"GET OUT, ED!" She yelled, flinging the picture towards Ed. It grazed the side of him and then hit the door with a sound thud, shattering the glass into a million pieces on the floor. Ed's eyes widened, and he slowly backed out the door, shutting it behind him as Robyn turned back around.

Ed was scared of this Robyn that he had never seen before. The two of them had yelled at each other before, but Ed realized now that those times Robyn had been playing. This was her when she was really, truly angry. He wondered what was so special about that picture that could make Robyn so upset.

"Hey Al? Did Robyn ever mention an old boyfriend?" Ed asked casually as he crouched on the floor of the basement, scratching out transmutation circles with a piece of chalk. Al sat a little farther away, scrubbing at the old transmutation circles with a wet sponge. He seemed thoughtful for a second, then said, "No, I can't remember her ever mentioning one. Why?"

Ed just shrugged his shoulders. "I saw this old picture of her with this guy," he said. Al looked up at his brother. Ed was bent over his work, carefully drawing a curved line of his circle. He seemed thoughtful, and then he said, "She said his name was Luke, but-"

"Oh! She told me about Luke," Al interrupted. Ed's perfectly curved line went into a series of squiggles and he looked up at Al with a surprised look on his face.

"What?! You know about Luke?!" he said, almost yelling. His chalk laid abandoned on the floor and he was now holding onto Al's every word.

Al innocently held up his hands, "Of course I know about Luke! While you were asleep this morning we were busy talking about our big brothers."

Ed stared at Al, his mouth hanging slightly open. "Big brothers?" he repeated faintly.

"Yeah. Luke is her older brother," Al said calmly. Ed seemed to relax a little and breathe a sigh of relief. Al just stared at his older brother. Had he actually been jealous of a boy that he thought was Robyn's boyfriend?

Ed was just starting to relax when he heard a door slam at the top of the basement. All the muscles tightened in Ed's body and he scooted up against the wall, remembering the glass-throwing Robyn. He quickly buried his face in his hands as she clomped down the stairs.

"Hey, Al! Can we start the lesson now that sleeping beauty is awake?" Robyn asked in a cheery voice. Ed opened his fingers wide enough to look at Robyn. She seemed normal now, not angry at all. He cautiously pulled down both of his hands entirely and looked closer at Robyn. Was it just his imagination, or were her eyes slightly red and puffy?

"Are you okay?" he asked cautiously, standing up slowly. Robyn turned to face him.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" she asked in a falsely cheery voice.

"Well," Ed said slowly, "There was the whole thing with your brother…"

Robyn whirled around to face Al. "Brother?!" she yelled, "I never told him I had a brother!" Ed cowered and whimpered pathetically. Robyn glared at Al and stomped her foot, trying to get out some of her anger. Ed thought he saw a faint glimmer pof a tear running down her cheek. Robyn glared at Al for another second, then turned and ran up the stairs with a frustrated grunt.

Al stared at Ed. "You had to do that didn't you? Keep pushing and pushing until she snaps," Al sighed. "When will you learn to control yourself, Brother?" Ed rolled his eyes and headed upstairs, planning to go up to his room, where Al couldn't bother him. Al seemed satisfied, thinking that Ed was going to talk to Robyn.

Ed stopped at the top of the stairs when he saw Robyn in the living room. She was sitting on the sofa with her knees pulled up to her chin, tears flowing freely down her face. She didn't seem to take any notice of Ed. For the first time since Ed had met Robyn, she actually looked like she could be the younger sibling who needed protection. Ed slowly walked over and sat next to her on the sofa. He looked over at her uncertainly. He had never encountered this type of situation before, and if he had in Amestris, he certainly couldn't remember what he had done. Suddenly, Robyn just collapsed onto his shoulder. Ed looked over at her in surprise, then realized that he wouldn't be able to move her. He sighed and slowly tried to relax so she would be more comfortable.

"Luke Edward Davenport," Robyn whispered. Robyn felt Ed tense slightly at his name. "Yeah, Edward. He was the reason I first got interested in Fullmetal Alchemist." Robyn slowly sat up and rubbed at her eyes.

"After he turned eighteen, my brother wanted to go fight in Iraq." Robyn carefully explained. "Our father was strongly against it. One night, Luke and my dad got in a fight – a big fight. The next day, Luke was gone." Robyn looked down at her knees. 'We haven't heard from him since.

"My brother meant the world to me. After my mom died and he left, I was desperate for something to cling to. And then I found a story about a boy named Edward who joined the military. To help the younger brother he loved." Robyn hugged her knees. "Fullmetal Alchemist gave me hope. By obsessing over a fantasy character, I was able to forget my past for a little while.

"Fullmetal Alchemist kept me from killing myself," Robyn finished softly. Ed looked over at Robyn. Tears were streaming down her face as she hugged her knees to her chest. Unsure of what to do or say next, the two of them just sat there silently.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Kairi Angel: Yay! I helped with this chapter!

Ed: (in a sling from stairs scene) I feel like a puppet.

AdventureAddict: That's right! I'm the author and I control your puny lives! Muahahahahaha! Now dance like a monkey!

Ed: I don't wanna…(Starts magically dancing) Hey! Cut that out!

Harry Potter: Can I stop now?

Kairi Angel & AdventureAddict: (Eating popcorn) NOOOO!!!

Frodo: Harry made me taller!

Ed: WHAT?! (he looks up at Frodo, who is about 6") COME HERE YOU LITTLE BRITISH TWAT!!!


	8. There are many paths to tread

AdventureAddict: Well, here we go again. Another day, another chapter. Another time to comment on Ed's height…well, more of his lack of it.

Ed: MOJJM MOJIYY MOKJJI MOKYYMO MOHGTMMO!!!

AdventureAddict: What the-?

Frodo: You got him in the middle of a bath.

Ed: MMJGFK MMGHPT MOPUT MUTS MATPY!!! …I got water up my nose…

AdventureAddict. Okay then. I don't own FMA, how many times must we go over this? Just start the story!

Frodo: Jeez. Bos-sy

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Eight – There are many paths to tread

_Robyn knocked gently on the Elliotts' door and heard a muffled 'come in' from somewhere in the house. She walked inside, and an awful smell greeted her. Ed was sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of something black in his hands, watching what looked suspiciously like a soap opera._

_"Hey Ed. Whatcha doing?" Robyn asked looking suspiciously at the bowl of black food and the TV._

_"Watching TV," Ed mumbled._

_Robyn rolled her eyes. "What about Al?" she asked. Ed just shrugged. Robyn sighed and walked over to the basement, sliding down the banister. Al was in a corner, polishing his armor with a dirty rag. He looked up at the thud of Robyn's feet._

_"Hey Al. How's it going?" Robyn asked, walking over to Al and sitting down next to him cross-legged._

_Al sighed. "I'm homesick," he said slowly._

_Robyn looked sadly at him. "You don't mean the home you burned down, do you?" she asked. Al shook his head, then hesitated._

_"Well…that too…" he said slowly._

_Robyn was thoughtful for a moment, then said, "I think Ed is a little homesick too, whether he realizes it or not." Al nodded, and the two of the sat silently for a while, the only sound coming from the slight squeak of Al rubbing at his chest plate. Robyn sat there, then softly started singing._

'_Home is behind _

_The world ahead _

_And there are many paths to tread _

_Through shadow _

_To the edge of night_

_Until the stars are all alight _

_Mist and shadow, cloud and shade_

_All shall fade _  
_All shall _

_Fade.'_

Robyn looked up and noticed that Al was looking at her. She twitched her mouth into a small smile, then said, "Come on Al. Lets go upstairs." She could tell that Al was about to protest, so she continued. "Ed told me that Robert and Sherry don't usually come home until about eight, and it's-" she stopped and looked at her watch. "seven-thirty now, so you'll be safe for a while. _Al looked at Robyn, then slowly got up and followed her up the stairs._

_Ed was still sitting in front of the TV, now intently watching commercials. It looked like a car commercial for Honda, or some other car company. Robyn suspiciously eyed the bowl of black food again as Ed took a bite with his eyes glued to the screen. _

_"What is that?" Robyn asked with a disgusted look on her face._

_"Ramen," Ed answered absently. He looked up and seemed to notice Robyn and Al for the first time. "Hey! Isn't there a risk that someone might see him?" Ed asked as he looked worriedly at Al. Robyn was still looking in horror at the bowl of black Ramen._

_"How can you burn Ramen?!" she yelled._

_Ed ignored her question. "Why is Al up here?" he asked._

_Robyn stopped making faces at Ed's Ramen and looked up at him. "First of all, why not? Second of all, you're sitting up here watching soap operas and eating burned Ramen. Give me that," she said snatching the blackened Ramen from Ed. "I figured you needed a little cheering up," she finished. She looked back down at the ramen in her hands. "Do you prefer Ramen soup or plain Ramen?" she asked._

_"Uh…plain," Ed mumbled, his attention focused back on the TV. Robyn sighed and walked into the kitchen, dumping the black ramen into the trashcan. Al gently sat next to Ed on the sofa, the cushions making a large dent for the armor. Al chuckled as the soap opera came back on and Ed leaned in to watch it._

_"And you said we were rotting our brains with Guitar Hero," Al commented. Ed quickly glanced at Al, then turned back to the show. Al sighed, the sound reverberating through the empty armor. _

_"Brother, what's wrong?" Al asked softly. Ed had both his elbows on his knees and his chin cupped in his hands._

_"Nothing," he said, his eyes glued to the TV. Al let out a frustrated sigh, then stood up and sat in front of the TV._

_"Hey!" Ed shouted angrily at Al, "Carlos just confessed of his undying love to Jacqueline! Move!"_

_"Not until you tell me what's wrong," Al said stubbornly. Ed sighed and closed his eyes. "Brother, you would have loved to learn all sorts of new stuff about a place like this. I thought that you were going to be reading books for hours, but instead you're watching this junk. What's wrong?" Al repeated. _

_Ed looked down. "I don't know, Al," he said softly. He looked back up. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I went and made you like that, and then I can't remember a shred of anything we did together." _

_Al looked steadily at Ed. "It will be okay, Brother. We gotten through worse stuff before, we'll get through this."_

_Ed looked up at Al with a faint smile. "How did a guy like me get a brother like you? You should be Gandhi's brother or something." _

_Al cocked his head. "Who's Gandhi?' he asked._

_Ed smirked at Al, "I have learned some things about this world." Then Robyn walked back into the room with two plates in her hands, handing one to Ed. Ed and Al both looked at the plate. There was a pile of Ramen on it, but they looked creamier. Ed cautiously took a bite, and gaped at the plate. _

_"Wow! That's really good! What did you do to it?" Ed asked. Robyn just smirked at him. "This is almost as good as those cinnamon chip cookies," Ed told her, making Robyn blush a little. _

_Al looked up at her. "Cinnamon chip cookies?" he asked. "Those sound pretty good." _

_Robyn suddenly looked back up at Al, struck with sudden inspiration. "How about I teach you how to make them in exchange for the alchemy lessons you're giving me?" she asked. "Then you can try them when you get your body back in Amestris."_

_"Okay," Al agreed happily. Robyn grinned back at him and took a bite of her Ramen._

_"But won't you be there to make them yourself?" Ed asked, making Robyn and Al look up at him in surprise._

_"What do you mean?" Robyn asked innocently._

_"Aren't you coming with us to Amestris?" Robyn looked sadly at Ed._

_"No, Ed," she said slowly. "You wouldn't want me to if you had your memory," she paused. "Besides, I have plans of my own." Ed looked at her for a moment, and both their heads turned as they heard a car pulling in the driveway. They both turned and motioned for Al to go back down into the basement, but he was already heading down the stairs. Ed turned back to Robyn._

_"Plans?" he asked as Sherry walked through the door, her arms full of groceries. "Like what"_

_"Well, I want to go to college, perhaps major in art, and then maybe meet a nice guy and get married." Robyn looked at Ed, who was giving her a strange look. "Yeah, even kids like me want to go to college. And I know that if I went to Amestris, I would just end up following you and Al around on your adventures. Why else would I go there? And once you and Al got your bodies back, where would I go? I wouldn't have a complete education or a job." _

_"You could join the military," Ed suggested. Robyn looked at him skeptically._

_"I wouldn't join the military without a good reason," she said softly. "And needing a job isn't a good enough reason for me." The two of them were silent. "When it hurts to look back, and you're scared to look ahead, you can look beside you and your brother will always be there," she said reassuringly, hoping to cheer Ed up._

_Winry sat in a dark room, surrounded by complete darkness. She had no idea where she was, and she didn't like the place either. She looked around desperately for a way out, or somebody to help her. She grinned as she saw the flash of a red coat in the distance, Ed would know what was going on. She ran towards it, the darkness threatening to swallow her whole._

_She finally managed to make it to the spot, Ed's familiar face in front of her with a rather odd smirk. He almost looked evil._

_"Ed," she gasped, panting for breath from her jog, "Where are we? Where's Al?"_

_Ed's grin widened a little. "Hiding," he answered._

_That worried Winry a little. "Hiding? Why is he hiding? What happened, Ed?"_

_Ed raised one eyebrow. "Who are you?" he asked._

_Winry gave him a look that would have sent him running if she had her wrench. "Ha ha, very funny Ed," she said. "Enough with the joke. Did you break your automail again?" she reached out to examine his arm, but instead of grabbing the wrist, her hand fell right through it. She stared at Ed in horror, noticing for the first time that he was slightly fuzzy around the edges. "What's happened to you, Ed?" She said, her voice echoing off the dark, empty walls._

_"I don't know," Ed answered, and then vanished completely. _

Winry suddenly woke up, covered in sweat. She quickly put on a bathrobe and ran out of the room.

"Something's happened to Ed and Al!"

"Hey, Al? We didn't know Robyn before, right?"

Al looked up from Ed's Chemistry book. "What do you mean, Brother?"

"She seemed a little familiar to me. There wasn't anybody like her in Amestris, was there?" Ed asked. Al was thoughtful for a minute.

"The person she reminds me the most of is you, Brother," Al said with a chuckle. Ed grumbled a little. "Seriously, her hair reminds me of Roy, but that's it." Al added.

"Robyn isn't like me," Ed muttered under his breath.

"Maybe not, but she probably knows more about you than you do. For example, do you even know who Roy is?" Al asked. Ed quickly opened his mouth, and after a second, he closed it again.

"Just read the Chemistry book, Al." Ed said angrily. "I'll remember who Roy is as soon as I get my memory back, and I'll get my memory back once we do enough research. I'm going to work on the computer, so I'll be upstairs if you need me."

"The Computer?" Al gasped. "Can I see? Please, Brother?"

Ed sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. Just take the Chemistry book with you." Al excitedly stood up, the book clutched in his large hands. Ed walked up and out of the basement, then up a second flight of stairs to a hallway, where he opened a door, revealing a desk with a computer surrounded by shelves of books. Al stared into the room, and Ed walked over to the computer and flicked it on.

"Hang on, I'll just get onto Google," Ed mumbled, quickly moving the mouse around. He looked back up at Al, who was staring at all the books on the wall. "Read the Chemistry book," he told Al as the Google screen popped up.

"Okay," Al said, sitting in one of the soft armchairs. Ed stared thoughtfully at the screen.

Ed sighed. "What should I search?" he asked, more to himself than Al. Al got back up from his spot to look at the computer screen. Ed typed in 'world gate' and Al gasped as the results popped up.

"That's amazing, Brother!" Al said. Ed nodded and kept scrolling through the results. Al seemed thoughtful for a minute. "What happens when you put in 'The Philosopher's Stone?'" he asked. Ed scrolled back up to the top and quickly typed in 'philosopher's stone' and another list of results popped up.

'_Can anybody give me an example of where they've heard of Alchemy before?'_

Ed started looking through the list, with Al looking excitedly over his shoulder. Ed kept reading the different results and then noticed the name 'Harry Potter' on one.

'_Uh, Harry Potter? Didn't Dumbledore and Flamel use it to create the Philosopher's Stone?' _

Ed stared at the link for a minute, then quickly scrolled back up to the top and typed in 'harry potter.' Ed glanced at the long list of links and quickly stood up. He pressed the power button on the computer and quickly ran across to his room, grabbing his red jacket off the chair and running towards the door as he pulled it on.

"I'm going to talk to Robyn, I won't be gone long, just go back in the basement and read the chemistry book!" Ed called out as the door slammed behind him. Ed quickly ran next door, his red coat flying out behind him. He impatiently rang the doorbell and waited on the porch until a very surprised Robyn came to the door.

"Ed? What are doing here?" she asked, but Ed was staring at her with a dumbstruck look on his face. She was a wearing a skirt with a short sleeve shirt, and Ed thought he could see a small trace of makeup on her face. Not the usual black though. Usually Robyn had black eyeliner, back nails, and maybe some black lipstick if she was in a good mood. Today she actually looked like a girl.

"Ed? Ed! Tell me what's up or I won't tell you your Chemistry homework on Monday!" She yelled, snapping Ed out of his trance.

"Going somewhere?" he asked suspiciously. Robyn narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, Ed. Even I have plans on Saturday," she said angrily. "Tell me why you're here."

"Who's Harry Potter? And what's he got to do with the Philosopher's Stone?" Ed asked quickly, remembering his original purpose. Robyn grinned and laughed a little.

"You were researching on the internet, weren't you?" she asked. "I hate to break your bubble, but Harry Potter isn't real."

"Just like Fullmetal Alchemist? That isn't real too, right?"

Robyn sighed. "Even if Harry Potter was real, The Philosopher's Stone was destroyed." She looked at Ed for a minute. "Hang on," she said, and disappeared. Ed waited impatiently by the door until Robyn came back with a book clutched in her hands, which she handed to Ed. Ed glanced down at the cover. It said 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.'

"You should read that," Robyn said, motioning to the book. "Lots of kids here love it, and I think the fifth movie is coming out this summer, so there will be a lot of commotion."

"I thought it was the Philosopher's Stone," Ed commented. "This says 'Sorcerer's Stone'"

Robyn sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, in England it was the Philosopher's Stone, but when they printed it in America, they changed it to Sorcerer's Stone, because they thought we were too stupid to understand 'Philosopher's Stone.'"

Ed glanced at the cover. A young boy was on a flying broomstick, reaching for a golden ball with wings. "How old is he?" Ed asked.

Robyn looked at the cover. "In that one, he's eleven. But now it's up to book six, so he's sixteen."

"Only eleven years old?" Ed stared at the picture of the young boy. "That's so young."

Robyn grinned. "Says he who joined the military at age twelve," she said, then paused thoughtfully. "Actually, you two are a lot alike. Both solving mysteries, and both of Harry's parents-" Robyn stopped as Ed looked up at her. "Well, I'll let you read the book," she finished. "I've got to finish getting ready." Ed nodded as she closed the door. Ed walked back to his house and down to the basement, where Al was waiting for him.

"I just saw the weirdest thing," he told Al, who was reading the Chemistry book again. Ed slowly sat on the couch. "Robyn wearing a skirt and makeup," he finished.

Al looked up at that comment. "She was wearing a skirt? Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ed said, looking back down at the book. "She said she had 'plans.'"

"Oh really?" Al said, nervously scratching the back of his head. Ed turned to face his brother.

"What do you know?" he demanded. Al looked down at the floor.

"We were just going to go walk around the park," Al said sheepishly. "There's going to be bands playing there tonight."

"And how do you expect to get back inside?" Ed asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was going to hide until Sherry and Robert left, and then I would come inside." Al explained. "We did try to plan this out, Brother."

Ed looked down, his arms still crossed over his chest. "Yeah, without me."

"Well," Al mumbled. "It kind of was a date."

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

AdventureAddict: Well, there you go. I finally posted, and now I get to go and leave you with that.

Robyn: Oo, the suspense!

AdventureAddict: What are you doing here?

Al: I finally got a girlfriend!

AdventureAddict: Hey, how'd you get in here?

Ed: It's a little crowded in here…

AdventureAddict: Where's Frodo?

Frodo: MUGJIMITT!

AdventureAddict: Al, you're sitting on Frodo!

Al: Sorry…


	9. Promise

AdventureAddict: Yeah, on to chapter Nine! I'm just blowing through the chapters now!

Frodo: She's discovered the joys of a laptop…

AdventureAddict: Well, yes. But a few weeks ago my muse committed suicide, so I had no clue what to write, but now I think my muse has magically risen from the dead!

Ed: Oh boy. I'm _so_ excited.

AdventureAddict: And it's almost winter break soon, too! So then I'll be able to write plenty! Anyway, let's start the story!

Frodo: As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.

AdventureAddict: That was my line, ya stupid side character!!!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Nine – Promise

Winry climbed off the train and looked around. Down at Central, everything seemed so big and intimidating. She knew that she wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for Ed and Al.

She quickly walked through the military building, searching for any familiar face. She guessed that if she knew who they were, they would probably know the Elrics. She looked around in vain for a few minutes, then finally spotted a familiar bulk parting the crowd. Winry sighed. Major Armstrong might not be the…least painful person to help, but at least she knew that he would be as concerned as her about the boys' safety.

"Major Armstrong!" she called out, waving a hand high in the air for him to see. She could tell right away that it had worked, since the large man smiled and started walking towards her.

"Miss Rockbell!" the major said happily. "Why are you in Central?"

"I'm looking for Ed and Al. Could you take me to whoever's in charge of them?" Winry said with the best smile she could muster.

"Of course," Armstrong said pleasantly, offering Winry his arm. Winry gratefully took it, glad for the help he was providing. After a few minutes though, she realized that taking the major's arm was a mistake, considering the strong grip he had.

Armstrong led Winry down so many hallways that even if Winry had known where she was when she had started, she wouldn't have known where she was anyway after all of Armstrong's turns. She started to wonder how Ed, or anybody else in the military knew how to navigate through the military buildings so well.

The major finally came to a stop in front of a door, which he knocked on twice before entering. He let go of Winry's arm to salute Roy and Riza at the other side of the room. Winry quickly started massaging her arm, which was now a deep shade of purple.

"Colonel, Miss Rockbell here is looking for the Elric brothers," Armstrong explained as Winry's arm went back to a normal fleshy color. Roy winced, and Riza's pupils got a little smaller.

"I knew it!" Winry shouted. "I knew something was wrong! What's happened to them?!" Armstrong looked at Roy with a worried look on his face.

"Colonel, is that true?" he asked. Roy sighed and closed his eyes for a second.

"Both the boys are missing," he answered.

Winry gasped and collapsed on the floor. "All these years of worrying and it's finally happened," she whispered softly.

"Where were they last seen, Colonel?" Armstrong asked in a worried tone.

"Goarhausen," Roy replied. "It's a city that's rather well known for trading. They get packages from all over the country."

"Yes, I've heard of it," Armstrong said, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"Both the boys went there to pick up a package for Edward," Riza told Armstrong, looking at some notes on a clipboard. "Records show that they picked up the package, but then disappeared shortly afterwards. There were no sightings of Scar or any homunculi in Goarhausen or the surrounding areas." Everyone was quiet as they absorbed this new information.

"What if the package told the boys to go somewhere without telling anybody?" Armstrong said thoughtfully.

"They would do that if they thought that it would keep others out of danger," Winry said softly.

Roy laced his fingers together. "Major Armstrong, do you think you could go searching for a certain military member?" he asked.

Armstong saluted. "Any time, any place, Colonel." Winry stood up next to him.

"Not without me," she said stubbornly.

"No," Roy said firmly. "This will not be the place for a young civilian girl like you."

"I promise not to put myself in any unnecessary danger," Winry protested. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew that Ed and Al were in danger and I didn't do anything." Armstrong looked over at Mustang and nodded his approval.

"A date?" Ed repeated faintly.

"Well, kind of," Al said nervously.

"Kind of?!" Ed yelled. "No wonder you were ironing your loincloth this morning! How could you do this?!"

"What do you mean-?"

"I just barely find out I have a brother and you go running off with a girl!"

"We're not running off-"

"Fine! Go ahead and go watch your stupid bands in the park! I'll just stay here and do more research!" Ed slumped on the couch angrily and picked up _Harry Potter. _Al started to move towards him, but then the doorbell rang. Al slowly walked up the stairs, still looking at Ed.

"See you tomorrow morning, Brother," he said softly, and then walked out the door. Ed watched him leave, and then rubbed at his eyes angrily.

Al slowly opened the door. "Hi Robyn," he said without looking up.

"Hello Al," Robyn said sweetly. Al looked up from the ground and gasped in surprise. Robyn wasn't wearing a skirt like Ed had said, but instead she was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a royal blue sweater that attractively showed off her shoulders. On top of that she had curled her hair and was wearing her guitar pick neclace, which looked surprisingly good with the sweater.

"Wow," Al breathed. "But…Ed said that you were wearing a skirt."

Robyn laughed merrily. "Al, haven't you heard of how girls change their outfit fifty times before a date?" she paused. "Speaking of Ed, where is he? Isn't he going to say goodbye?"

"No," Al said sadly. "He didn't want to."

'_I finally got the girlfriend I wanted, Brother. But was it worth it if it meant making you so mad?'_

'_Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were very proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.'_ Ed had read the first line of Harry Potter for what seemed like the hundredth time. He looked back up from the book as he heard a door shut. He quickly looked back down at the book, desperate to distract himself.

'…_Dursley…number four, Privet…proud to say… normal, thank you…'_ Ed scanned over the page without absorbing any of it as one word drifted across his mind.

_Wimp. _

Ed ignored the voice and flipped on the TV. He tried desperately to focus on the news story of a missing girl.

_You know you wanted to._

"No!" Ed shouted, standing up. _'I can't have a girlfriend,'_ he thought desperately. _'Besides, she already said that she wanted to go to college, and I've got to go back to Amestris with Al.'_ Ed nodded to himself. "Can't have a girlfriend," he muttered under his breath.

Robyn leaned back on her hands next to Al. Both of them were sitting on the grass in the park, listening to the band play as the sun set behind the stage. Robyn turned to Al.

"You know this can't last," she said softly. Al looked down sadly.

"Yeah, I know," he said slowly, then turned to look at Robyn. "But you knew that too, so why'd you say yes?"

Robyn grinned at Al. "Because Al, You're a great guy, and girls should lining up to be with you." She chuckled. "And Fullmetal Alchemist is popular enough that they probably would if we let you out of the basement more often." Al may not have had a body, but Robyn could tell that he was beaming anyway.

"Really?" he asked happily. Robyn nodded and they both turned back to watch the band, with Al turning to ask Robyn if she was tired every now and then.

"Robyn?" a familiar voice called out above Robyn and Al. Robyn turned around to face it and saw Kari standing there with a shocked look on her face. Robyn and Al both quickly stood up, and Kari pulled Robyn aside for a hushed conversation.

"What are you doing? Have you finally lost it?"

"Listen Kari, I can explain-"

Kari grinned, "A guy, Robbie? A real guy? Is it a date?" Robyn blushed and scuffed her foot in the dirt. Kari looked back over at Al. "Well? What's his name? He's an obvious FMA fan."

Robyn looked up at Kari with a wild glint in her eyes. "His name is Al, Kari." Kari laughed. "Come on Kari, you can't say you still don't believe me now," Robyn pleaded.

"Robyn, don't you think this is getting a little childish?' Kari asked. Robyn looked at her with a hurt expression. "I mean, how much work did it take to get that guy's armor so perfect? Just admit you're growing up and that you actually went on a date."

Robyn huffed at her stubborn friend. "This isn't just a bunch of coincidences, Kari. Besides, he actually remembers Amestris," Robyn said softly as she walked back to Al's side. Kari crossed her arms and turned her back on her friend.

"Come on Al," Robyn said angrily as she grabbed Al's arm and pulled him out of the park. Al didn't stop her until they were standing back in front of the Elliott house.

"Robyn, what's wrong?" Al asked, pulling her back around to face him. Tears were streaming down Robyn's face. She looked at Al sadly, and then collapsed onto his chest plate. She didn't know that two golden eyes were watching from a window in the house behind them.

Ed grumpily sat in his Chemistry seat on Monday morning. The entire classroom was empty – not even the teacher was in there yet. Ed glanced down at his right hand and tugged off the glove. He stared at the smooth metal, hearing the soft whir of gears as he flexed his fingers. He rested his head on his left hand and stared at the artificial limb. He felt guilty for not even being able to remember who had put so much work into it. Actually, he felt guilty for a lot of things, he realized with a sigh. A sudden creak from the door interrupted Ed out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Robyn walk in the door, wearing battered jeans and a long sleeve red shirt. She looked at Ed, grinned, and then sat in the seat next to him.

"You know, you might want to put your glove back on," she told him. "Other people will be coming in soon." Ed nodded and pulled the glove back on. "Are you okay?" Robyn asked. Ed nodded silently. Robyn looked at him strangely, then turned back to her books.

"So did you have fun with Al?" Ed asked sourly from his seat. Robyn looked back at him.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Ed. "But didn't Al already tell you?"

Ed gave her a careless shrug. "Yeah," he said.

"Well, Al and I aren't going to do it again, alright?" Robyn said softly. Ed looked up at her with a surprised look on his face. Robyn stopped looking at her knees and looked up at Ed. "Come on Ed, don't act so surprised. You knew as well I did that it wouldn't last."

"Then why'd you do it?" Ed asked her.

Robyn sighed. "Because when he asked me, I remembered all those times where he said he couldn't get a girl because of his large body, and I couldn't say no. I knew that having a girl reject you would be more painful than if he never had a girl. Plus," Robyn looked up at Ed, "He's got you for a brother. Not only do girls drool all over you, but for what he lost his whole body for, you only lost a leg. Imagine if someone came up to you and said, 'Okay, all of you is equal to one of your brother's legs.'" Ed looked down at his knees. "So I gave him a date as a little boost to his confidence," Robyn finished.

"Girls don't drool over me," Ed mumbled.

Robyn scoffed. "Oh yeah, and the sky isn't blue." She paused. "Don't tell Al, okay?" she added softly. Ed looked up at her and held out his hand. Robyn took his hand and shook it with a smile.

"I promise," Ed said, barely loud enough for Robyn to hear.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

AdventureAddict: Well, another chapter bites the dust.

Ed: And another one gone, and another one gone!

AdventureAddict: Oooo-kay…Anyway, there have been a few reviews commenting on my neighbors. No, Ed is not my neighbor, if that was true, I wouldn't be here _writing_ a fanfic, I'd be _living_ it!

Ed: (pales and trembles as sweatdrops appear on his face)

AdventureAddict: Nope. All I have next door is a puppy…awww…puppy…

Frodo: Get on with it!

AdventureAddict: Right-o. Anywho, My friend Kairi Angel informed of a few things that might seem like references or something weird like that…These are pure mistakes!!! XD

Coincidence #1: I named Robyn's mom 'Lily,' and Robyn and Lily both have matching eyes – Harry Potter and his mom 'Lily' also both have matching eyes. (I named her 'Lily' because I thought it would be cool that her name and the color of her eyes match…)

Coincidence#2: The Elliotts son's name is 'Edward' and he has red hair. There is a character in Cowboy Bebop whose name is Edward and has red hair. (I just gave him red hair because I always need at least one character with red hair in my stories. XD)

Coincedence #3: nightbug08 threatened me with Darth Vader to name Robyn's brother 'George,' (IDK, it's random) instead of naming him George, I named him Luke, like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader's son… (I named him Luke just because it fit!)

Frodo: Stop…please…

Ed: I feel death's warm embrace…

AdventureAddict: Drama queens. Yeah, I'm done now. If anybody else spots coincidences, feel free to tell me!


	10. Anger Management

**_I'M SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER!!!_** Okay, now I don't feel guilty and I can have fun! Yeah, I got a little absorbed writhing another fanfic, and then I looked back at these old chapters and started working on rewriting them, so I was a little distracted. SORRY!!!!!

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Ten – Anger Management

Winry sat uncomfortably in her chair, her already tiny body being squeezed into the size of a toothpick, thanks to Major Armstrong. As if it wasn't already bad enough that they were traveling by train. Winry supposed that her comfort level was about equal to someone sleeping on a bed of hot rocks. There was no way that she would be doing this if she didn't think that Ed and Al might be in trouble.

_Trouble._ Both Ed and Al had been in trouble before, but Winry had never been so worried about them. And she had never had such a bad feeling in her gut, either. A feeling that was telling her she wouldn't find them.

And yet, she was sure they hadn't died. She was positive that she would have known if either of the Elric brothers had died. She had felt that pull very strongly on the night that Ed and Al had tried to bring their mom back. A tug telling her that something was wrong, that one or both of them was in trouble. She hadn't known what that tug was at the time, though. It had only been after years of Ed and Al constantly being in trouble that she realized that whenever she felt that tug, Ed would end up coming home with his arm or leg horribly mangled, or altogether missing.

Winry slowly pondered her feelings. She was positive that Ed and Al were at least reasonably all right, but she was also positive that she and the major wouldn't find them. She chewed thoughtfully on those two feelings for a while, wondering what they could mean, until a sudden simple idea entered her head. She craned her head up to look at Armstrong.

"Major," she asked slowly, and he turned down to look at her. "Do you think it might be possible that Ed and Al might have been kidnapped?"

Armstrong slowly thought over the idea. "I suppose so," he said thoughtfully. 'But why would someone kidnap them?"

"I don't know," Winry said softly. Then she chuckled softly, "I mean, it's not like either of them is the _president_ or anything."

"No," Armstrong said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But they are rather well known for their skill with alchemy…" he trailed off, lost in thought.

"You think someone may have wanted them for their alchemy skills?" Winry asked slowly, a worried tone in her voice. Armstrong kept looking ahead, not answering the girl's question. Neither Armstrong or Winry were aware of a passenger sitting in the seat across the isle from them. A passenger with short black hair and purple eyes.

Robyn sat quietly in her seat, observing the scene before her with a confused expression on her face. First, she had no idea how she had ended up in Amestris, on the train, no less. Second, Winry and Armstrong were working together? To find the Elric brothers, who (as far as she knew) were living in a small house on Earth next door to Robyn? Robyn shook her head vigorously to try and make sense of the whole situation. She tried to get up to try and tell Winry that Ed and Al were fine, but her legs wouldn't move. Robyn glanced around her at all her surrounding. No one seemed to be taking any notice of her. Robyn tried to make contact with anyone, trying desperately to make sense of the whole thing, but no one would meet her eyes. Robyn kept looking around desperately like that for a few minutes until her eyes meet with someone else's, who winked at Robyn.

It was a young woman, not very old, but definitely not younger than twenty, at the very least. She had a rather nice face, well shaped and clear of any blemishes. Her smile had a way of warning people that she was dangerous, and yet able to lure them closer at the same time. She was wearing a long cloak with the hood pulled up over her head, covering half her face, but in a nice, attractive way. Robyn stared at the woman curiously, wondering how it seemed that only this woman was able to see her.

Robyn gasped as the woman pulled back her hood, revealing that she was none other than Lust herself, smiling at Robyn with a glint in her eyes. Their eyes connected for a minute, and Robyn recoiled in horror. Robyn quickly shut her eyes and covered them with her eyes as the train whistle blew loudly. There was something wrong with the whistle though. It was little too sharp and wasn't ringing quite right. It almost sounded like a…

A bell?

Robyn woke with a start and looked around at her surroundings. She wasn't on a train with Armstrong and Winry, she was in her Chemistry class, and the bell had just rung to signal the end of class. Robyn quickly gathered all her books up in one arm and headed towards the door. She quickly stopped for a minute and glanced back behind her. Ed was still in the classroom, talking to Mr. Duncan. Robyn couldn't hear what they were saying over the roar of the hallway, so she quietly walked over to them, taking care not to make any sudden movements that would startle Ed.

"-I don't know Edward," Mr. Duncan was saying, "I haven't heard anything about successful world crossings. I don't think scientists have even discovered that other worlds exist. Why are you so interested in the subject?" Mr. Duncan peered intently at Ed.

"I don't know," Ed said with a careless shrug. "I was just interested because it was in a lot of books, I guess." Robyn looked at Ed and noticed how expertly he held himself. To almost anyone else, he would not have cared two cents if a wild baboon jumped on your head and started doing the Hokey Pokey. But after hours of watching Fullmetal Alchemist, Robyn could notice the slight differences in how Ed held himself when he really didn't care, and how he held himself when he was hanging onto your every word. And right now, Robyn could tell that Ed was hanging onto what Mr. Duncan was saying, probably going so far as to try and memorize what he said, word for word.

Mr. Duncan laughed heartily, the sound filling up the room and bouncing across the walls. "Edward Elliott, the famous world traveler, huh? It does have a nice ring to it," Mr. Duncan said merrily. Ed grinned sheepishly, and Mr. Duncan continued in a sterner tone, "Remember Ed, fantasy books are called that because that's just what they are - a fantasy in the author's head. Now, you better go to your next class." Ed and Robyn both nodded and walked out into the hall. Once the door was safely closed behind them, Robyn burst out laughing.

"Fantasy books aren't real," Robyn said in an imitation of Mr. Duncan's voice and she laughed harder, "What does that make you, then? A figment of my imagination?" Robyn kept laughing, an Ed gave her a weak smile, but Robyn could tell he was deep in thought. She stopped laughing and looked at him. "Hey, Ed?" she asked and Ed looked up at her. "If you're interested in other world travel-" she said and was cut off by Ed.

"Of course I'm interested in other world travel!" he yelled angrily, "I come from one! You just said so yourself!"

"-then there's somewhere that you'd like," Robyn finished, ignoring Ed. "We would have to go this weekend, though. It's not around for most of the year." Both of them stopped walking and stared at a boy standing in front of them, blocking the way. He looked like he was about Ed and Robyn's age, maybe even a year younger.

"Get out of the way," Ed said angrily, motioning for the boy to step aside.

"I was wondering," the boy said with a smirk. "What's with the hoodie? Did the specialty store you get your clothes at run out of red jackets?" Ed's face turned a beautiful shade of red, but Robyn could tell it was from anger, not embarrassment. "I mean," the boy continued, "That must be the only place that sells clothes short enough for you." That was the last straw for Ed. He blew up and started yelling various curse words and insults and lunged at the boy, but Robyn quickly and expertly caught him around the waist. Ed struggled against her grip, but Robyn's bicep muscles had improved a lot from holding Ed back so much.

"And you need your girlfriend to hold you back, too," the boy said with a smirk as he watched Ed struggling. "I thought you normally hid in the bathroom crying about your mom, Robyn," the boy said triumphantly. Ed stopped struggling, and he and Robyn both stared at the boy. Ed looked back at Robyn and she held up both her hands, letting him go. Ed lunged at the boy and started punching him and kicking him with both his metal limbs. The boy was screaming for a teacher as blood started pouring out of his nose.

"Uh, Ed? You might want to-" Robyn started, but it was too late, since a teacher was standing right there. She quickly ran over and pulled Ed off the bloody mess that was once a boy.

"What were you doing?" she said as she stood Ed in front of her.

"Jerk," Ed mumbled under his breath. The teacher grabbed Ed and started dragging him down the hall.

"Come on, we're going down to the Dean's office," the teacher told him. She turned around and looked at Robyn. "Could you bring him down to the Nurse's office?" she asked. Robyn nodded meekly as the teacher disappeared around the corner. She then dragged the boy to his feet and started pulling him down the hall.

Robyn met up with Ed a little later as he was coming out of the Dean's office. He looked very angry, and his footsteps rang through the hall as he clomped down. Robyn remembered how the boy's last comment had been the one that had made Ed beat him up. The comment that was an insult to her, not Ed. Had Ed been trying to defend her?

"So what'd they give you?" Robyn asked as Ed started walking next to her. It had become a habit for them to walk together and talk a little, though Robyn was the one who did most of the talking.

"Anger Management classes," Ed scowled, "I have to go at one o'clock on Saturday." Robyn stifled a laugh and tried to look sorry for Ed. All she could think was: Anger Management classes?

Robyn stood on the Elliott doorstep early on Saturday morning, wearing her Fullmetal Alchemist sweatshirt. She knocked lightly on the door and waited a few minutes before a still very sleepy looking Ed came to the door.

"Robyn? What are you doing here?" he asked as he yawned loudly.

"Remember?" Robyn tried, "Other world travel?" she asked, and Ed perked up a little.

"Oh yeah! Maybe if we're lucky I'll miss my anger management classes!" he said brightly, and Robyn laughed.

"No way," she giggled, "In fact, that sounds so entertaining that I'm coming with you," she said, and Ed slouched. "Now go get ready," she said, nudging Ed inside. "And wear your red coat," she added thoughtfully. "The whole outfit." Ed looked at her curiously, but he went up to his room, and Robyn headed downstairs.

Al was sitting by himself in a corner, his knees curled up to his chest. Robyn looked at him sadly for a moment, remembering all the Fullmetal Alchemist things she had read or seen. For the first time, she felt like an intruder. These two were just living their lives, and she knew everything about them, down to what Ed had written in his watch.

"Hey, Al," Robyn said, and his head flicked up to look at her. "Come on, we're going on a trip," she said, motioning for him to follow her up the stairs. Al slowly got up and walked up the stairs and scrunched himself through the door.

"What kind of trip?" he asked. Robyn could hear water running upstairs as she passed underneath the arch to the kitchen. Ed was probably taking a shower.

"A trip to help you guys get home," Robyn said with a careless shrug as she opened the refrigerator. "Tell me Al, can you fry bacon?"

A few minutes later, Robyn was busy scrambling eggs, and Al was pushing bacon around in a frying pan. Robyn then reached over and grated some cheddar cheese into the eggs while Al watched her.

"You're a pretty good cook, aren't you?" Al asked as Robyn stirred the melting cheese into the eggs. Robyn frowned a little.

"Well, you kind of have to be when your only parent is never home," she said bitterly. "When mom first died, dad got totally absorbed in his work. At first it was okay, because Luke could cook pretty well. But then Luke left, and-" Robyn paused and wiped at her eyes. "I don't know. I know that my dad loves me, I just think that he doesn't really want to see me."

"That's nonsense!" Al said, and Robyn looked up at him sadly. "If your dad loves you, why wouldn't he want to see you?"

"Because I look too much like my mom," Robyn said, staring back down at the scrambled eggs. Al tried to think of something else to say when Ed walked in the room, his wet hair tied back in a loose ponytail.

"What smells so good?" he asked, and Robyn stepped back and handed him a plate. Ed ravenously piled eggs and bacon on his plate and then sat down at the table. Al dutifully sat down next to his brother to keep him company. Robyn leaned back against the stove and watched them talk. A small laugh escaped from her lips, and Ed turned around to look at her.

"What?" he asked, a piece of egg hanging off his fork, and Robyn shrugged.

"I don't know you guys just look…normal. Ed's wearing his jacket, and Al's not hiding in the basement," she said, and Ed cocked his head, but then returned back to his food.

Robyn ended up having to borrow her dad's pickup truck, since Al didn't really fit in normal sized cars. The put him in the back and kept the window open so that he could talk to them. Cold air kept blowing in the truck, but both Ed and Robyn were thinking how a little cold air was nothing compared to what he had to go through every day. Robyn ended up being elected driver, since neither Ed or Al had a driver's license. Once she saw the astonished face of a small boy peering out from a truck, but other than that, nobody seemed surprised that there was a suit of armor in the back of their truck.

It ended up taking a whole hour to get there, so that by the tie Robyn actually found a parking space, she was thoroughly chilled and Ed's hair was dry. Robyn excitedly ran towards the building anyway though, since there was a large banner on the outside that read, "Anime Convention."

"I should have known," Ed sighed as he watched Robyn run inside. "She's just dragging us here to show us off."

"You mean that there will be Fullmetal Alchemist stuff in there?" Al asked, and Ed glumly nodded his head. Al gleefully clapped his hands and ran ahead to join Robyn. "Come on, Brother!" he called back, and Ed slowly started walking forward, dragging his feet with ever step. Soon Robyn was excitedly dragging the brothers past countless stalls, pointing out how he was a ninja, him an assassin, and so on and so on. Ed looked up at the ceiling and saw tons of banners grinning down at him.

"What's a Fruits Basket?" Ed asked, pointing up at one with a large orange cat on it. Robyn looked up excitedly and was barely able to keep herself from squealing. She tried to think of a way to describe Fruits Basket to Ed.

"It's kind of like Fullmetal Alchemist, except it's _completely_ different," she babbled.

"And that makes _so_ much sense," Ed mumbled under his breath.

"Here it is! The FMA section!" Robyn yelled, excitedly pointing. Ed stared at the scene in front of him in astonishment. There were at least a hundred other 'Edwards' standing in front of him. All of them were wearing the same red jacket as him. He could tell that some were cheap and some were expensive though, just by their appearance. One even looked like it had been hand-sewn. Some of the people didn't have long enough hair, or even blond hair. Ed noticed a few people with dark hair wearing a military uniform, and he suddenly remembered something from the first four episodes he had seen.

"_The name's Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang."_

"Ha! I remember who Mustang is now!" he shouted triumphantly to Al. _"That's_ Mustang!" he shouted, pointing to one of the dark haired look-alikes. Al didn't seem to notice though, since he had picked up a miniature version of himself.

"Brother! I'm an action figure!" he said gleefully, moving himself into a heroic stance. Ed sighed and rolled his eyes, and looked over to Robyn, who was looking at the items at another stall.

"Oh wow, wall scrolls!" she cried out as she examined a few tube shaped items. Ed sighed and walked off on his own to explore.

"Edward Elric look-alike contest!" An announcer cried out, "The winner will receive $100!" Ed perked up at the announcement. That would be an easy way to get money.

Robyn had wandered around by herself for almost two hours now, and was carrying a large bag of things she had bought. She had been saving her money all year for this. She and Kari had originally made plans to go together when they had first heard about it, but now that they weren't speaking to each other, Robyn had gone without her.

Robyn looked around, and for the first time seemed to realize she was alone. Both Ed and Al had wandered off while she had been busy shopping. Al was easy enough to find, his large body stuck out high above the crowd. Once Robyn had gotten to Al, the set out together to try and find Ed. Finding Ed was a lot harder than finding Al, since so many people were wearing the same jacket he was. It reminded Robyn a little too strongly of a Where's Waldo book. Robyn and Al wandered around for a while until they passed a small stage.

"And in third place, Thomas Elliott!" a man yelled into a microphone. Robyn perked up at the familiar last name.

'Hey Al, is Ed up on that stage?" she asked urgently. Al peered over the heads of the crowd.

"Uh-huh," he nodded, "he doesn't look very happy."

"Well, that's because he got third place in his own look-alike contest," Robyn said with a laugh. "Try and get his attention." Al nodded, and started waving a hand high in the air above the crowd. Ed noticed and nodded to Al, and then stubbornly crossed his hands over his chest as the announcer handed him the eleventh copy of Fullmetal Alchemist.

"A _girl_," Ed said angrily as he walked with Robyn and Al. "A _girl_ won first place." Robyn tried desperately to keep herself from laughing. "What kind of idiots are they?" Ed complained bitterly. "And what time is it?"

"Nine fifteen," Robyn answered, looking at her watch. "And we don't have to go until about…eleven thirty." Ed cheered up a little bit.

"Great. Let's go get lunch," he said, making a beeline for the doors. Robyn shrugged and followed him. But one guy managed to quickly tell Al how much he loved his costume before they left.

Once they got back home, Robyn and Ed quickly dropped off Al at the Elliott's home, and then continued on to anger management classes. Ed looked like he needed anger management, since his face looked about ready to explode. It had to be a pretty rotten day for him, first losing his own look-alike contest to a girl, and now going to anger management classes.

After a very heated debate about where the class actually was, Ed and Robyn finally managed to pull into the parking lot of the building. There was a vacancy in the class, and Robyn was able to take it, much to Ed's dismay. He didn't want her around during the peak of his embarrassment.

The two of them managed to get seats next together before the teacher came in. The rest of the class was all grown-ups much older than Ed or Robyn. Then the teacher came in and explained how controlled breathing was one of the simple ways to control anger. She then told them to get in partners and practice this by trying to make their partner angry, while remaining calm themselves. Robyn turned excitedly to Ed, who looked about ready to crawl in a hole.

"I'm surprised you've gotten this far without killing someone yet," Robyn said to Ed with her chin resting in her palm.

"Of course I've gotten this far. I'm a very calm person," Ed replied coolly. Robyn couldn't stifle her giggle.

"If you're so calm, why don't you have a nice, cold glass of milk?" she asked him with a grin. Ed twitched a little, but Robyn could tell he was trying really hard not to let her get to him for once.

"If I have to have milk, you need to get a Tetanus Booster," he replied with a smirk. Now he had her. He had brought up the taboo subject of needles. Robyn twitched and went straight to her big ammunition, no longer trying to build it up.

"Pipsqueak!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Ed snapped and yelled back, "You're shorter than me, Runt!"

"Half-pint!"

"Midget!"

"Bean sprout!"

"Shortie!"

"Pipsqueak!"

"You said that one already!"

"I don't care!"

"Now, now," their teacher said soothingly as she rushed over to the two red-faced teens, "We need to calm down, don't we?" Ed and Robyn both huffed at each other. "I've found that one of the things that calms me down is singing," the teacher continued. Ed gave her a 'You've-got-to-be-kidding-me' look. "Sing along when you feel like it," the teacher told them. "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!" she sang merrily. Robyn burst out laughing, and Ed looked ready to kill someone.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Okay, happy everyone? Yeah I know, it took me forever, sorry. I was a little brain-dead. And I've never been to an Anger Management class, so I don't know if that's how they actually work. Now, should I keep doing a bit more fluff and keep building up, or should I start right away with the serious stuff?


	11. Mint Chip Ice Cream

Hello, back again for another chapter! I just wanted to say that Kairi Angel was the one who said that this was what she wanted, and Misery's-Toll said it a little bit too, though not quite as specific as Kai…So anyway, thanks to those two, and yes, this counts as fluff! (Belive me, you'll know when it's not fluff…) Hope you guys like the chapter, it was a little hard to think of ways to get them in that…ahem…situation, so…

I feel really weird though, because I'm listening to Lord of the Rings music while typing an FMA fanfic…wait…I'M CHEATING ON ED!!! AHHH!!!! (Runs around room in circles screaming) GET ME AN FMA CD _NOW!!!_

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist. Or Monte Python. Or Sunkist. I think that's about it…**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Eleven – Mint Chip Ice Cream

Robyn sighed and rolled her eyes as some girls further down the lunch table talked excitedly about the homecoming dance that Saturday. In her mind, the homecoming dance was just about the stupidest thing on the planet, next to furbies. You got yourself so that you looked gorgeous in a nice short dress, and then hopped up and down in one place and got sweaty in beat to songs you might not even like.

Ed looked over from the girls to Robyn curiously, all his food already gone. "What's the homecoming dance?" he asked curiously. Robyn scoffed angrily.

"A bunch of bullshit designed to swindle the average high-school student out of their money," she muttered under her breath. "Actually, their parents money. Kids around here don't work for their own money," she added. She looked over at Ed and noticing his curious stare, explained with a sigh, "You pay fifteen bucks to go in a room and jump in beat with the music, and maybe come out once in a while for punch."

"Oh," Ed said, even though he didn't really understand. Robyn turned back to Ed.

"Do you want to have an anti-dance?" she asked Ed. "I could bring over a movie and we could have popcorn and maybe ice cream later-" After that, Ed didn't really hear what she said. The phrase 'We could have ice cream later' had about the same effect as the phrase 'I'll take off my shirt and dance in front of you,' had on other guys.

"Yes," Ed agreed hastily. If there were a way to have ice cream, he would do it. Robyn perked up a little and grinned at him.

"Okay," she said happily, "Are there any movies you've been wanting to see?" Ed shrugged carelessly.

"Mint chip ice cream?" he suggested, and Robyn laughed.

"Okay, we'll have mint chip ice cream," she told him, and Ed punched his fist in the air in victory. "Uh, Ed? You do know that ice cream has milk in it, right?" Robyn tried cautiously, and Ed waved the comment away with a flick of his wrist. Robyn smiled and then went back to eating her sandwich with a sigh.

"Hey, Ed?" she said thoughtfully, and Ed grunted in response. "Why is your hair so long anyway?" she asked, and Ed looked up.

"How would I know?" he said crossly. "I don't have any memory, remember?" he finished and started picking angrily at a spot on the table.

"Sorry, jeez," Robyn said, innocently holding up her hands. She thoughtfully took another bite out of her sandwich and then looked up at Ed. "Would Al know?"

"Know what?" Ed asked, still staring at the spot and picking at it.

"Why you have long hair," Robyn repeated with a sigh.

Ed shrugged without looking up. "Probably not," he said and then finally looked up at Robyn. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not a very open person," he said seriously, and Robyn laughed.

"What about me, then?" she asked. "You were open with me."

"What was there to be open about?" Ed scoffed. "You already knew everything about me."

"No," Robyn said simply. Her sandwich now laid forgotten next to her. "I knew whatever I could learn from the manga and anime. I learned more from you."

Ed snorted and looked away. "Like what?" he mumbled.

"Well, your favorite color is turquoise, unlike red, like most people would think. Your favorite type of soda is Sunkist, and you're one of the few kids at school who actually reads the newspaper," Robyn listed off, and Ed blushed.

"You can learn important things in the newspaper!" he protested.

"I'm not saying it's bad," Robyn said with a smile. "Most kids just don't like that type of thing. Besides, you're a bookworm," she added, and Ed turned a deeper shade of red.

"No I'm not!" he protested angrily, and Robyn smiled again.

"Which Harry Potter are you on again?" she asked.

"Well, number three, but-" he started, but was quickly cut off by Robyn.

"I only gave the first book to you a few days ago," she said, and Ed picked at the spot on the table with new vigor.

"I'm researching! The Philosopher's Stone is in the story!" he protested.

"I've never seen anybody else get so into 'research,'" Robyn commented.

"Forget it," he mumbled, and looked back down at the table. It was a little hard to pick at the spot with soft gloves instead of sharp fingernails. Not that his fingernails were very sharp anyway.

Robyn looked at him sadly. Maybe she had pushed it a little too far. "I'm sorry, Ed," she said softly, and Ed looked up at her.

"I know things about you too, you know," he told her. The way he said it made it sound like a threat.

"Try me," Robyn said with a grin. "And not basic stuff you could learn about me if I was in a manga."

"As if anybody would write a manga about you," Ed said with a smirk. Robyn raised her hand to playfully whack his shoulder, but Ed quickly continued, "Your favorite color is purple because it reminds you of your mom. Your favorite animals are snow leopards, and you want to write a screenplay someday." Robyn blushed.

"Okay, so you know about me too," she said, "Are we even now?"

"No," Ed quickly said, "You like grape soda the best and your favorite food is turkey subs. Your mom taught you how to draw, and you like going for jogs in the summer." Robyn had the feeling he had even more to say, so she quickly cut him off.

"ED!"

Ed looked at her innocently. "What?" he asked, and Robyn sighed at the exact same moment the bell rang. She stood up and tossed her half-eaten sandwich into a garbage can. She turned to Ed, who was already heading to his next class. She picked up her pace and walked next to him. Now that she and Kari weren't really speaking to each other, Ed was pretty much her only friend at school.

"Hey lovebirds! Why don't you just make out already?" Robyn ignored the comment, thinking that some friend was playfully teasing two friends.

"After all, two short people like you should just date each other so the rest of us tall people don't need to worry about you!" Now Robyn knew the comments were directed at her. Both she and Ed whirled around simultaneously. The boy that had first prompted Ed into anger management classes was standing there, grinning at them. He had clearly not learned his lesson. Robyn could see veins popping all over Ed's face.

"Easy, easy. He's just trying to get you angry," Robyn soothed gently.

"People that stupid don't deserve to live with the rest of us sane people," Ed growled. Robyn didn't know if she or Ed really qualified as 'sane,' but she agreed with the thought anyway.

Ed turned to look at Robyn and their eyes connected. For a moment, Robyn could catch a brief glimpse of raw power hiding behind his angry golden eyes. Then the boy who had just been insulting them came up from behind and pushed Ed into Robyn with a laugh. Ed was caught off guard and stumbled forward awkwardly.

Robyn watched in surprise as Ed seemed to lurch a few steps towards her in slow motion. He managed to prevent himself from knocking Robyn to the ground, but his lips landed on Robyn's in an awkward kiss.

Time seemed to be moving extra slow. And if that was happening to Ed too, he was probably pretty ticked, Robyn thought. If he knew that time would ever move slowly for him, he would have probably hoped for it on a test, not an awkward accidental-first-kiss.

It was a little surprising how soft Ed's lips were, though. She was used to seeing how muscled and hard he looked. And while she loved looking at those muscles, she realized that she had never once thought about what his lips would feel like. A little strange really, since the lips would be the first place a girl would touch.

And then Ed pulled away from her, after what had seemed like an eternity, even though Robyn knew it had probably only been about three seconds, give or take. Ed looked at her with wide, surprised eyes, and then hurried down the hallway either towards his next class or to kill the insulting boy with a death wish.

Robyn stared at the empty space where he had just been moments before. Unless he had some secret life that was never revealed in the manga or the anime, that was his first kiss, if that counted as a kiss. Either way, that was the first kiss he could remember, since all his memory was currently wiped out.

As Robyn watched the blurs known as people rush past her, she could vaguely remember that some movie had once said that it's true that time stops when you find the person you're meant to be with, but afterwards time moves extra fast to catch up. Then she had thought it was ridiculous, but now she thought that whoever had said that might just be right. **(1)**

While she was still in her daze, a green haired Fred popped out of nowhere and looked curiously at Robyn, who looked strangely like a zombie from the video game Fred had gotten last week.

"Buy me a wheelbarrow!" Fred commanded with an insane giggle and then ran off into the mass of people. **(2)**

Robyn sat in her room on Saturday, thinking about whether she should actually go to Ed's house for an anti-homecoming or not. Sure, they had agreed to it, and she even had the mint chip ice cream in her fridge, but that had been before the little incident in the hallway. Every time Ed had seen her the next day, he had started blushing furiously and turned away.

Had it really been that bad of a kiss? Was Ed never going to speak to her again because they had accidentally kissed? Did that boy plan to make the hate each other by making them kiss each other? Was Robyn overanalyzing things, as usual? She didn't know what to do.

After a few more moments of consideration, she went to the fridge and pulled out the ice cream, then grabbed her copy of Monte Python and the Holy Grail. She slowly walked out the door, thinking about how she could leave the ice cream as a peace offering and run if Ed looked too angry.

She slowly rang the doorbell of the familiar house and then stomped her feet to keep warm. It had gotten unnaturally cold recently, and she hoped it would warm up in time for Halloween next weekend. Then the door slowly opened and the familiar face of Ed was at the door, looking a little groggy and angry. Robyn guessed that he had just been sleeping, since his ponytail was a little looser than usual. Robyn winced at his angry look and held out the ice cream, planning to run as soon as he took it. Hopefully the prospect of ice cream would slow him down and give her a chance to run away.

But the ice cream wasn't snatched angrily out of her hands like Robyn expected. She slowly opened one eye and saw Ed walking inside the house with the ice cream cradled in one arm. She cautiously followed him inside, not sure whether he actually wanted her to or not. He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a large spoon from the drawer, and then pulled out two bowls from a cabinet above him. Robyn sighed in relief. If there were two bowls, that meant he had to be somewhat all right with her presence. Ed popped open the ice cream container and started spooning ice cream into one of the dishes.

"Are you okay, Ed?" Robyn asked cautiously. Ed kept spooning ice cream with his back turned to her.

"Of course," he said simply, holding the full bowl out to the side for her to take. Robyn grabbed it, but continued to stare at Ed. He finished scooping ice cream into his bowl and turned around.

"You don't have a spoon," he said simply, staring into Robyn's bowl. Robyn looked down at her bowl. He was right; she didn't have a spoon. She had been too busy worrying about Ed to notice. Ed pulled open a drawer and grabbed two spoons, one for him and the other for Robyn. He held one out to her and she gratefully took it and put it in her bowl. Ed then turned around and closed the container of leftover ice cream and put it in the freezer.

"So, what are we watching?" he asked Robyn as he took a spoonful of ice cream from his bowl.

"Huh?" Robyn looked up at him, disturbed out of her thoughts. Ed looked down at the movie still clutched in one hand. "Oh. Monte Python," she said simply, and then walked out to the living room. Ed followed behind her and opened the door to the basement as she put the DVD in.

"Al! Come upstairs! We're watching a movie!" he called down, and Robyn heard the now familiar creak of metal. She looked over at Ed as he walked over to the couch and slouched on it. He was still the same Ed, but now he was so…tame. Everyone had always wanted him to be tamer in the manga so he wouldn't be as much of a handful, but now that he was like that, he actually seemed a little boring. Robyn didn't even want to call him short for fear he would just shrug it off. Ed wasn't meant to be Mr. Perfect.

Al walked out of the basement and looked cautiously at Robyn, who was giving Ed a weird look, and then at Ed, who didn't seem to mind having Robyn give him a weird look. The whole thing reminded Al a little too strongly of a show he watched when Ed wasn't around - The Twilight Zone. Roby pressed the play button on the DVD player and then sat on the opposite side of the couch from Ed. Al watched the two of them carefully, and then sat in the empty space between them. Ed just took another spoonful of ice cream.

Ed slowly read the comments beneath the credits, his spoon halfway to his mouth. **(3) **Al quietly laughed at the part about those responsible for sacking those people have now been sacked, and then the screen changed to flashing red and yellow accompanied by weird Mexican music. Ed's spoon clattered into his dish and he stared at the screen in amazement.

"WHAT THE CRAP?!" he yelled, and Robyn sighed and folded her hands behind her head. She had a feeling that everything would be back to normal after the movie was over. It was amazing how Monte Python could fix almost everything.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

The movie is Big Fish. Don't ask.

Thanks to Erika for providing me with the inspiration for that quote. Yes, she actually did that. Yes, it was actually to me. Yes, I actually did look like a love-stricken zombie at the time. Any more questions?

A moose once bit my sister…

Oh, and if any of those who were curious from last chappie, yes, Robyn does like Fruits Basket, though obviously not as much as Fullmetal. (And she really likes her Fullmetal! XD) I mean, what girl doesn't like a guy who turns into a cute kitty when you hug him? Hmmm…a girl version of Kyo would be the perfect girlfriend for Al…Wait, would she turn into a cat when he hugged her or not? Ergh…so confused…


	12. Chemistry

Wow. I feel really weird. First of all, because I'm on chapter 12, (woot) and second because I have a FMA calendar, and Ed is always looking at me, especially from where I type this, so I kinda feel like Ed is stalking me…FULLMETAL STALKER!!!

Anyway, yes, this is an EdxOC fanfic, but no, Robyn is not a weird AdventureAddict clone. Robyn is completely and utterly herself, not some weird way for me to be with Ed…She's more of a way for Kairi Angel to be with Ed, since I based Robyn off Kairi…aw, man! Kairi, why do you always get all the guys?!

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist. **

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Twelve – Chemistry **(1)**

Robyn slowly shifted her weight from foot to foot and stared at the blue flame in front of her. Ed sighed beside her, obviously not liking the waiting part of the Chemistry lab. He stood on his tiptoes and looked into the crucible and then sighed. (Crucible - a special porcelain doll cup designed to hold things in chemistry labs)

"Still only boiling," he muttered under his breath as he resisted the urge to knock the whole thing to the ground. It would have been very satisfactory to watch the whole damned experiment shatter into a million pieces.

"What do we have to do next?" he asked with a sigh as he shoved his hands into his pockets. They were safer from knocking things over there. First the teacher had told him to take off his jacket because it was a 'fire hazard,' and now he had to suffer through this whole damned lab. He could have made salt in about two seconds if he had his all memory. That was what annoyed him the most. That had to use the whole damn hour to make something that he could have done in two seconds. He was realizing more and more every day that life was so much more inefficient without alchemy. (Watch out – Ed's in a bad mood! –notice all the swearing in his thoughts-) **(2)**

Robyn picked up the instruction sheet with a sigh. He knew that she was enjoying this lab about as much as he was. He had seen her looking excitedly at the flame a few times, and could only imagine what she was thinking about. Whatever it was, it probably involved the whole school burning to the ground in a plume of smoke.

"After the H2O has evaporated completely, have one partner use the plastic glove to hold the glass top while the other grabs the crucible with the tongs," Robyn read off.

Ed sighed. "It'll look suspicious if I grab the whole damn thing with my automail, won't it?" he asked, and Robyn nodded. "I'll take the tongs, you take the glove," Ed said with a sigh. He picked up the tongs with one hand, and looked into the crucible. All that was left was a fine white powder. Ed placed the tongs firmly around the crucible, and Robyn reached over to grab the lid.

Robyn's arm was reaching right across his chest, pressing into him snugly to grab the glass lid. Robyn and Ed both looked at each other, blushing intensely as they remembered all too well the scene in the hall the other day.

_Robyn watched in surprise as Ed seemed to lurch a few steps towards her in slow motion. He managed to prevent himself from knocking Robyn to the ground, but his lips landed on Robyn's in an awkward kiss. _

Robyn glanced at her hand, suddenly aware of the intense heat below it. She quickly picked up the glass cover and set it on the counter. Ed picked up the crucible and placed it on the counter next to the glass cover. Robyn avoided eye contact with Ed and glanced over the instructions again.

"Now we have to let them both cool off," Robyn mumbled. Ed nodded slightly and turned off the flame, and then leaned against the counter, Robyn's back still towards him. She was probably still blushing. He hadn't thought she was the type who looked cute blushing when he had first met her. But she was. Was she blushing about that day in the hall?

He had been nervous about it too, at first. But then he had seen how relaxed she seemed about it, and he had forgotten about it. He had just assumed that she had thought it was the accident that it really was and let it go.

He looked at her again. Had he been right in that assumption? Now her shoulders were moving up and down steadily, as if she was taking calming breaths. Ed looked at her curiously and then gave up. He had (probably) never understood girls, and he (probably) never would. He pulled off his left hand glove and cautiously touched a finger to the glass to see if it was cool yet. He quickly pulled the finger back with a wince, instantly regretting the action. He held the red fingertip up in front of his face and then sucked on it gently, trying to get the burning to stop.

"Aw Ed, I didn't know you sucked your thumb." Ed looked up to see Robyn looking at him with an amused expression.

"Ez mop mi pum, ez mi poipah pingah," he said angrily, which caused Robyn to laugh even more. Ed pulled the finger out of his mouth.

"It's not my thumb, it's my pointer finger," he repeated irritably. "And I was sucking it because I burned it on that stupid glass."

"First of all, glass takes a while to cool," Robyn said with a smile, "And second of all, there's a sink right there. You could have washed it off, which I suggest you do now." Ed scowled at her, but turned on the sink and held his finger under the running water.

Just as he was drying his finger in a towel, the electricity flicked off. In her surprise, Robyn knocked the glass cover to the floor, which was followed by the satisfying sound of glass shattering. The only light came from the flames of labs still in progress, since there were no windows to the outside world in the room. Robyn could see the faint shadow of Mr. Duncan move towards the door, where the switch that controlled all the gas was.

"Everyone get back to your seats," he ordered. The class instantly obeyed, walking up to the front of the room chattily, except Robyn and Ed, who were looking cautiously at the shattered glass beneath their feet.

"Mr. Duncan?" Robyn said slowly. "We broke some glass back here."

"Oh," came the thoughtful reply. "Well, please stay where you are. The lights should be back on soon, and if you walk around you'll just spread the glass." And with that, he turned off the gas that provided fuel for the flames, the last source of light. The chatter from the class up front erupted instantly. Robyn looked at the blackness in front of her as her pupils adjusted. Somewhere right in front of her was Ed, but she couldn't see a thing.

She jumped as something brushed against her arm, but relaxed as she realized it was Ed's gloved hand. Her vision finally seemed to adjust a bit and she could start to see the faint shape of Ed in front of her. His arm had drawn away quickly, and she couldn't be sure of whether he was actually there, or whether her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"Ed? Are you there?" she asked softly.

"Of course I'm here!" he snapped. "Where else would I be?"

Robyn was silent as she let her eyes fully adjust, giving her a slight headache. When they finally adjusted all the way, she was able to notice how close she and Ed were to each other. The two of them were awkwardly silent for a moment as they listened to the other kids talking excitedly.

"If the lights are out too long, they _have_ to let us go home."

"No way Max. They aren't letting us go home."

"They're gonna hafta if the lights stay out too long."

Robyn heard a sharp intake of breath and looked back over at Ed. He seemed all right, but his right arm was shrugged up to his shoulder, and he was massaging the shoulder with his other arm as if that could stop the pain.

"Are you okay, Ed?" Robyn asked anxiously, reaching out a hand towards him. Ed quickly looked over at Robyn and shrugged out of his position.

"Of course I'm okay," he said with a twinge of embarrassment. "It just ghost pains. They're kind of normal when you're missing two limbs."

"Are you sure you're not scared of the dark, Edo?" Robyn asked with a grin.

"Hell no!"

"Geez, sorry," Robyn said, innocently holding up her hands. Even with her limited vision, she could tell that Ed was glaring at her. Ed sighed and shifted his weight between his feet. Robyn could hear the crunching of glass coming from the floor.

"So you really have ghost pains?" Robyn asked softly. Ed looked down at the floor. If he turned his head a certain way, a slight flicker of light fell on the glass and made them shimmer. It was really rather pretty.

"Ed?" Robyn asked even softer. Ed ignored her. He didn't want to talk about how his arm and legs hurt so bad that sometimes he almost screamed out in pain. And his other ghost pains too. The ghost pains of his past life that made him wake up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and clutching the sheets. Ed was saved just in time by the lights flickering back on, which was greeted by a loud chorus of groans from the class.

Ed looked up at Robyn as Mr. Duncan walked towards their lab station to clean up the glass. She was looking at him with a worried expression on her face. Ed tried to give her a reassuring smile, but knew he failed miserably. He was cursed with the inability to cheer people up.

Ed lay silently in his bed, not able to sleep or even think. But maybe it was better that way. If he started sleeping, he started having nightmares, and then he would wake up with the sheets tangled around him.

He heard a creak at the door and opened his eyes slightly. Robyn was standing at the door wearing _his_ coat. Why was she wearing_ his_ red coat? She looked like she was still a little groggy and not taking notice of her surroundings, so Ed quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

He heard he walk softly across the room over to his bed, and then he felt her warm breath on his ear as she leaned down close to him. Ed tried his best to keep still and pretend he was asleep. He didn't really know why he wanted to pretend he was asleep, it just seemed like a good idea. He realized that he wouldn't be able to keep up the game for long though, especially not if he was facing her directly.

"Ed," she whispered, tickling the hairs on his neck. "Ed, please wake up." Ed moaned and rolled over in his sleep, pulling the pillow over his head. He smiled inwardly. Now he could pull off the act for a long time since he wasn't facing her and had an extra layer of protection covering his head.

"Please, Ed," Robyn pleaded. Ed sighed softly. Her voice sounded so vulnerable and sweet. He couldn't keep pretending to be asleep with her acting like that. He slowly pulled the pillow off his head and rolled over to look at her.

"What?" Ed mumbled. "Robyn?" he said with as much sleepiness in his voice as he could manage. It was a little tricky, since he hadn't really slept at all that night and was wide-awake. "Wuz wrong?"

"I can't sleep," Robyn said softly as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Ed sighed as he looked at her face. Damn! Why did she have to look so pretty when she was helpless? And then she had to go in _his_ room when she couldn't sleep and give him that puppy dog look. She didn't seem anything like the Robyn he was used to seeing during the day – hard and stubborn.

A bit like him, really.

"Well, now neither of us can," Ed sighed and looked down at her. "How's your wound doing?" he asked suddenly. Ed looked around, surprised by his own question. Wound? What wound? Robyn didn't have a wound! And yet, when Ed looked down at her, he saw dried blood on her shirt. Unless that was someone else's blood, she had an injury of some kind, and a pretty big one at that. Robyn's touched her hand lightly to her side.

"I think it's okay," she said after a moment. "I just can't sleep." Ed sighed. How could anyone sleep with blood all over their shirt like that?

"Brother?"

Ed and Robyn both looked up to see Al standing in the doorway.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. "I heard voices."

"It's fine, Al," Ed said with a sigh. "Robyn couldn't sleep."

Al looked down at Robyn, who was now kneeling by the bed, and had both her arms resting on it. Ed was sitting close by, looking at his brother curiously. But it wasn't Al's sudden appearance that made him curious. There was something…different about Al. But how different could you get when all you were was a suit of armor? Ed looked him over questioningly. Was Al really the one who changed, or had it just been the way Ed viewed him?

"Would you like some ice water?" Al asked kindly. Robyn silently shook her head. "Okay. I'm going to go then," Al said, looking between the two. Robyn and Ed both nodded in unison, and he walked away.

"Can I just stay with you?" Robyn whispered.

Ed looked at her worriedly. First, there was only one bed in the room, and second, if she did plan to sleep in his bed, would her presence make it so Ed didn't have any nightmares? (Or get _any_ sleep, for that matter)

"I might kick you out if I start having nightmares," Ed whispered back. "It's a pretty small bed," he added.

"I don't mind."

Ed was struck by a sudden thought and got up; even when he tried to tell his body it was a bad idea. A bad, bad idea. He grabbed Robyn's hand and pulled her out of the room. At the end of the hallway he stopped in front of a wooden door and opened it, revealing a large room with a double bed in it. Ed looked at it with wide eyes. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea. Besides, Robyn wouldn't ever go for this sort of thing, would she? She'd never acted like she wanted that kind of thing before. Ed looked over at Robyn. 'No sex,' he told himself. '_No_ sex!'

And yet there was something about her in that blood-stained shirt that made him want to pick her up and hold her tight, to protect her from the world. She looked up at him expectantly, and Ed knew that this was the part where he was supposed to say something.

"Remember, if I start kicking you during the night, I warned you," he said as he walked up to the bed and pulled back the covers. For the first time that night, he was actually starting to feel tired, but did he have to say such a stupid line? He sighed inwardly and climbed under the thick blankets. It was nice to go to sleep on a cold night under a pile of thick blankets. He couldn't help himself from staring as Robyn pulled off his jacket and dumped it on the floor, and then crawled in next to him.

Ed watched as the space between him and Robyn quickly closed. She was so close that he could feel her breath on his arms, but maybe that was just because the room was so cold. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it? Ed slowly reached out both his arms and then wrapped them around her, pulling her in close as if he really could protect her from the world. He felt Robyn relax against him, and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Ed sighed happily and felt his eyelids starting to droop sleepily. It was actually very relaxing to just lay there with Robyn.

"Ed, will you promise me something?" she asked softly, and Ed looked down at her, forcing himself to stay awake.

"What?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"You won't leave me alone in the morning," Robyn said, and Ed looked at her curiously. He could stay awake a little bit longer to hear what she was talking about. Robyn sighed and explained, "In movies, whenever a guy and a girl are sleeping in the same bed, the guy always wakes up first and gets out of the bed, leaving the girl all alone." Ed smiled slightly. She was worried about being left alone? He didn't ever think that she could be so…_cute._

"I promise I won't get out of this bed until you wake up," he assured her softly. Robyn sighed happily and tightened her grip around him slightly. Ed felt himself jerk in surprise a little bit as she started playing with his hair.

"You left your hair in its braid," she whispered as she wrapped it around her finger and then uncurled it again. Ed relaxed. The way she was playing with it didn't hurt, and it actually felt good. He couldn't really remember anyone touching his hair other than him.

"Oops," Ed mumbled, getting sleepier by the minute. He felt Robyn gently pull out the band holding his hair together and then she started running her fingers through his hair, unbraiding it. Ed suddenly loosened and closed his eyes. Now _that_ was relaxing! Once his hair was completely loose, Robyn curled up closer to him, her fingers still entwined in his hair. Ed drifted into sleep as he felt the steady beat of Robyn's heart through his shirt.

Ed suddenly woke up and looked around his room. There was no double bed, no red coat on the floor, and definitely no Robyn curled up in his arms. She was in the house next door, where she was supposed to be. Ed flexed his fingers thoughtfully. So it had all been a dream? But it had all felt so…_real_.

But dreams always feel real when you're having them.

As he sat there, the details of the dream started to slip away from him like water through a sieve. When he finally managed to get back to sleep again, all he could remember what it was like to feel Robyn's heart pressed up against his.

It had felt good.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

**(1)** Yeah, Chemistry in Chemistry class! heeheeheehee

**(2)** DAMN THESE EGGS! DAMN ALL THE EGGS THERE EVER WAS! Yeah…We're reading _A Raisin in the Sun_ in English, so Ed's bad mood made me think of that line…XD

Muahahahahahaha! I had to do a little bit of romance for V-day, so…happy V-day to you all!

Now here's my beef: Reviewing is a win/win situation. You just write a few things into your computer and send it my way, and when I get it, I get happier and want to write more, making me post sooner. The sooner I post, the happier you are and more likely to review…see the happy cycle? So why aren't you clicking on that button yet?! YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, YOU BETTER BE MOVING YOUR CURSOR TOWARDS IT!!!


	13. A Mother's Secrets

Ugh. Unlucky number 13. Though I shouldn't be the one worried, since I'm the one controlling all the puny little lives!!! Muahahaha! I love having complete control…

I had fun thinking of this chapter too. Ed and Robyn get to show off their rock star side! XD And if you don't think Ed could be a good singer, then you have to listen to Brother. (Actually sung by Vic Mignogana!) Meep! Rockstar Alchemist!!!

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist. **

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Thirteen – A Mother's Secrets

Robyn tapped her pencil against the pages of her open Chemistry book. She could easily solve the problem, but she didn't want to. Today was Saturday. Saturday was meant to be spent sleeping and relaxing, not doing homework. She sighed and dropped her pencil and looked out the window. It wasn't like she was actually going to get any work done.

Robyn smiled as she realized that Ed had left his window open. It was understandable though, since today was the warmest day they'd had in weeks. Which was also lucky, since it was Halloween. Moms wouldn't be trying to force kids to wear a winter coat over their costumes.

Robyn rested her chin on one hand and started snapping with the other one. It was a surprisingly relaxing action. Every now and then, Robyn had been scolded for snapping in the middle of a test.

Robyn stared through the window into Ed's room. It was completely empty, except for a few research notes scattered across his desk and some clothes crumpled on the floor. He was probably down with Al, trying to figure out a way to go home. Robyn sighed. If only their home was just another country instead of a whole different world. It was fun living next door to the Elric brothers.

Robyn looked up as she heard soft humming and the creak of a door. He didn't seem to have noticed her yet, so she quickly stopped snapping and ducked her head down. If Ed ever found out that she had heard him singing, she probably wouldn't live to tell the tale.

She peeked her head up slightly to look at Ed. He must have just come out of the shower. His hair was still wet and stuck to his bare shoulders. In fact, all he was wearing was a pair of loose pants.

"Summer has come and past," Ed sang softly as he sat down at his desk and started shifting through the papers. "The innocent can never last."

"Wake me up when September ends," Robyn sang under her breath. Ed really did have a nice singing voice, but she knew he probably wouldn't want to admit it. A sudden, evil idea crept into Robyn's head and she softly crept over to her guitar and picked it up.

"Like my fathers come to pass, seven years has gone so fast," Ed sang a little louder, not realizing that Robyn was listening.

"Wake me up when September ends," Robyn sang with him, strumming her guitar gently. Now she was glad that she had figured the notes out before Ed and Al had mysteriously arrived.

Ed looked out the window in surprise and stopped singing as a blush crept across his cheeks. Robyn motioned for Ed to keep singing, but he furiously shook his head.

"Come on Ed, keep the song going!" Robyn shouted through the window as she kept strumming at the guitar.

Ed's blush deepened considerably, but he meekly continued, "Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars."

"Drenched in my pain again," Robyn sang along, trying to boost his confidence. "Becoming who we are."

"As my memory rests, it never forgets what I lost," Ed sang a little louder, and Robyn grinned.

"Wake me up when September ends!" they both sang loudly. Then they both looked out the windows with a challenging look. Now was the part in the song where it switched to a more rock sort of song by a beat being hit out. Robyn and Ed looked at each other and started stomping and clapping in unison with wide grins. Robyn turned back to her guitar and started playing again rather loudly.

"Summer has come and past, the innocent can never last," Ed sang loudly, trying to drown out Robyn's guitar. Robyn grinned up at him, but then looked back down and focused on the notes.

"Wake me up when September ends!" they sang together loudly. Robyn wondered if neighbors would start yelling at them soon. She didn't care. She was having the most fun she'd had since before her mom died.

"Living out the bills again, like we did when spring began," Ed continued.

"Wake me up when September ends!"

"Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars. Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are."

Robyn listened to Ed carefully as he sang. She had never realized before how the song actually kind of _fit_ with the Elrics.

"As my memory rests, it never forgets what I lost."

But any song could fit with a story if you looked at it hard enough. And it wasn't like it was depressing Ed or anything. After all, he was hopping in circles around his room. So Robyn's confidence boost had worked. Maybe a little too well.

"Wake me up when September ends!"

Robyn looked back down at her guitar and started playing the solo she had spent weeks memorizing. She wondered if Ed was watching her, or if he was still jumping around. Either way, it was nice to see him actually acting happy for once.

"Summer has come and past, the innocent can never last." Robyn looked up at Ed. He looked like a complete goofball, singing into an empty fist since he didn't have a hairbrush. Robyn had never seen him acting like this before, not even in any fan art.

"Wake me up when September ends!"

Robyn found herself starting to wonder if years from now he would ever tell anybody about the day he and a girl in another world had started singing as loud as they could at eight o'clock on a Saturday morning.

"Like my fathers come to pass, twenty years has gone so fast."

Probably not. Ed wouldn't want to make himself look like a complete nutcase. If he ever told anyone, it would be Al, or maybe even Winry. But every teenager had to do this sort of thing sometime or another, right?

"Wake me up when September ends!"

Robyn sighed. Now this was the way to spend a Saturday morning. Waking up all the neighbors with the loudest music you could possibly muster. She smiled to herself. She knew she would remember this Saturday for a long time.

"Wake me up when September ends!"

"Wake me up when September ends!"

Ed looked up at her after the last line of the song and gave her the rock on sign with his automail hand. Robyn grinned as Ed reached a hand back to comb through his unbraided hair.

"Hey Robyn, could I borrow a brush or something?" Ed called through the open window. Robyn nodded and walked over to her vanity, pulling open one of the drawers.

She didn't see her brush in the front, so she reached her hand back into the drawer. She fumbled around a bit and when she found something that felt like a brush handle, she pulled hard.

Much to her surprise, the bottom of the drawer popped up instead of a brush coming out. A false bottom? Robyn stared at it in surprise, longing to pull out the papers hidden underneath it. She looked over at the window. Ed was standing by his window, waiting for the promised hairbrush. Robyn reached back and grabbed the handle of the hairbrush and then closed the drawer. The papers would wait.

"Go long!" Robyn shouted, holding the hairbrush up high. Ed bent his knees and Robyn tossed the hairbrush beautifully through the window into Ed's open arms. Ed held it firmly and started brushing his damp hair.

"You're going trick or treating tonight, right?" Robyn asked, leaning up against her window. A light breeze blew through the window as she said it, ruffling Robyn's hair.

Ed nodded. "Al needs to get out of the house," he said. "He's starting to drive me crazy."

"How?" Robyn asked curiously as he finished brushing his hair.

"Catch," Ed said, holding the hairbrush up. Robyn held up her hands and Ed tossed it lightly across.

"Well, he's really interested in school," Ed continued as he grabbed a rubber band off his desk and started braiding his hair. "Brother, you're so lucky! You get to go to _school!_ I wish I could go to _school!_ What's _school _like in this world?" Ed said in his best imitation of Al. Robyn laughed as Ed grabbed a shirt off the back of his desk chair and slid it over his head. "Yesterday he even offered to do my homework for me," Ed told her as he pulled his braid out from underneath his shirt.

Robyn felt her mind drifting back to the papers in the vanity. She really wanted to see what they were, but she wanted to read them privately, without Ed reading over her shoulder.

"Anyway, I better go see what he's up to," Ed said as he headed towards the door. "We were going to watch the Harry Potter movies today."

"Okay, great," Robyn said quickly, glad that Ed had provided the excuse to get away rather than her. "I'll see you later tonight, then." She quickly walked away from the window and pulled open the drawer again.

Robyn slowly reached down and pulled out the papers with trembling fingers. They were written in her mother's handwriting, which made Robyn's neat handwriting look like a scribble.

Robyn carefully flipped through the yellowing pages curiously. What had been so important that it made her mother work so hard to hide it?

Robyn stopped flipping through the pages suddenly. The page she had stopped on was completely covered with a large transmutation circle with a few notes to the side. But…Alchemy like that didn't even exist in this world. The only Alchemy close enough was Chemistry. So how did her mother know about transmutation circles? Robyn flipped the paper on its side and carefully read one of the notes her mother had written.

I have been trying for years to figure out a way to make a Philosopher's Stone without human sacrifices, but so far I haven't had any luck. And now I am trapped in this world without Alchemy. This is the farthest I think I will ever be able to get my research, but I don't even know if this one will work.

_If my research is right, then this transmutation circle should cut down the needed sacrifice of the Philosopher's Stone drastically. Hopefully down to about one limb, which might even be able to be restored with the stone once it was complete. But I do not know whether this will work or not, since I have been performing all my experiments without any Alchemy at all. And I do not think I will ever get a chance to test it either…_

Robyn stared at the paper in disbelief. A Philosopher's Stone? For just one arm or leg? She flipped back through the papers and started reading frantically. What other secrets had her mother kept from her? Then a sudden thought came to her.

Was that why she was so good at Alchemy? Her mother had also mentioned how she was 'trapped in this world without Alchemy.' Did that mean that her mother really came from Ed's world? And if she did, which world did Robyn qualify as a citizen of?

Ed silently walked down the sidewalk with Al on one side and Robyn on the other. He and Al were dressed as themselves, and Robyn was dressed as a pirate. Ed glanced over at Robyn. She had been quiet ever since she had showed up to go trick or treating. Ed hadn't known Robyn very long, but he'd known her long enough to know when something was bugging her. Her eyebrows would get all bunched together and she would just nod silently whenever someone said something.

Ed looked over at her a little more closely. Yep. Her eyebrows were creased in concentration.

"Look! A dead puppy!" Ed yelled loudly, trying to get Robyn's attention.

"What?! Where?!" Al screamed in horror while looking around wildly.

"That's nice," Robyn murmured softly while nodding her head. Ed stopped walking and stared at her.

"There's no puppy," he told Al, who was still searching for the poor critter. Ed then turned to Robyn. "Robyn, look at me," he commanded sternly.

"Mmhmm," Robyn said while nodding her head.

"No, really look at me," Ed growled, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around to face him. Robyn looked at him with wide eyes.

"Geez! What?!" she yelled angrily at Ed, not enjoying being disturbed out of her thoughts.

"What's wrong?!" Ed asked, slightly shaking her shoulders. Robyn was silent as she looked into his eyes. "What's wrong?!" Ed repeated angrily. Robyn was silent for a moment, and then suddenly snapped.

"Do you really not have any memory, Ed?!" She asked angrily, and Ed dropped her shoulders in surprise. "There are too many connections for them all to be just coincidences!"

"What are you talking about?" Ed said with a confused expression. Robyn sighed and pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket.

"This is what I'm talking about," she said with a sigh as she handed it to Ed. "It was my mother's." Ed slowly unfolded the paper and then stared at the transmutation circle. Noticing the writing on the side, he turned the paper and slowly read it.

"What is it, Brother?" Al asked, trying to read over Ed's shoulder.

"The Philosopher's Stone…" Ed said softly as he handed the paper back to Al. "It was your mom's?" he asked Robyn.

"That's what I just told you!" Robyn said angrily, crossing her arms over her chest. "It turns out I might not even be from this world at all," she said with a sigh. "So do you really have no memory?" she asked Ed again.

"None," Ed said with a sigh as Al handed the paper back to Robyn. "How many times have we been over this?"

"Too many," Robyn said with a bitter laugh. "Al, do you possibly remember why you guys are here?" Robyn asked. Al was silent for a moment as he thought.

"No, not really," he said at last. "I just remember that we were talking to some guy and then the world went black. The next thing I remember is when Brother woke me up."

"Well, isn't that convenient?" Robyn grumbled. 'Now I'm even more interested in you getting your-" she stopped suddenly as a thought came to her. "What if I'm related to Rosé?!" she said suddenly, part horrified, part thrilled.

"Rosé?" Ed asked, suddenly confused. "Why Rosé?"

"She has purple eyes!" Robyn said excitedly. "And if my mom was her…second cousin, or something like that…and she suddenly disappeared, and if Rosé called you guys for help, you probably would help her!" Ed and Al both stared at her.

"It does kind of make sense," Al said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess…" Ed said, trailing off. "But her skin is pale, not tan like Rosé's."

"That's because I was born here and kept inside more often!" Robyn said excitedly. "Oh, it all makes sense now!"

Ed watched Robyn twirl around with the paper clutched in her hands. Maybe it did make sense now, and he was happy that she was really from their world, but…Rosé?

Ed sat silently at his bedroom window, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked through the clear glass and stared at Robyn's house.

He found himself starting to think about what she was doing now. They did have to go to school today. Maybe she was waking up, eating her breakfast getting dressed…

Ed groaned.

"Stop doing this to yourself," he muttered under his breath. "She said herself that she wasn't coming with you, so just forget about-"

Ed stopped his train of thoughts suddenly. She _had_ said she wasn't going with them, but that wasbefore she started thinking that she was related to Rosé.

Rosé, of all people!

But if she thought that she was really from their world, would she actually go with them? Maybe-

Ed stopped himself again. He had seen the kind of situations he put himself in, and they weren't pretty. As much as he cared about Robyn and wanted her to come along, he didn't want to put her in danger.

Ed sighed and rested his head on his hand. She was right; if she went with them to their world, she would end up following them all over the country like a little puppy. So as much as Ed hated to admit it, she would be safer here.

There was the sudden sound of engine slowing to a stop, and Ed focused his attention back out the window. A military vehicle had stopped in front of Robyn's house, and two young men wearing uniforms were walking up to her door. Ed stiffened and sat up. He could tell just by the color of their hair that neither of them was Robyn's brother.

This wasn't good.

Ed looked closely at them as one rang the doorbell of Robyn's house. One of them was holding a flag that had been folded into a triangle.

This definitely wasn't good.

Robyn came to the door fully dressed and smiling happily. But as soon as she saw the men, her smile instantly vanished and she looked at them in shock. Ed watched as the men said something he couldn't make out, but he knew what they must have been saying.

First they would ask if her father was available. Robyn looked down and shook her head. Her father was never available unless it was for work. Then the men both gave her a look of pity and one told her the horrible news. Once the man's lips had stopped moving, the other one presented the flag to Robyn, who silently took it while staring at the ground.

And then the men were gone.

Ed looked at Robyn as she silently watched them drive away, and then sank to her knees on the porch with the flag clutched to her chest. Ed stood up and hurriedly got dressed. He didn't know how he would comfort Robyn, but he knew he couldn't leave her out there like that.

He started wondering if that would be him someday. Would he ever have to be the bearer of bad news for some poor family?

Or would Al be in Robyn's place?

After all, Ed was in the military, and someone would have to tell Al if he…

Ed shook the thought away impatiently as he quickly walked outside. After all, Al was always by his side, so if he did die, then Al would be the first to know.

But Ed couldn't shake away the thought of some stranger telling Al that his brother was dead.

"Robyn?" Ed said softly, sitting on the steps to the porch. Robyn looked up at him with puffy red eyes, and Ed felt a part of him feeling sorry that he had come. If there was one thing that could get to him, it was a girl crying.

"Luke," Robyn sobbed, clutching the flag as if it was a teddy bear. Like it could somehow absorb all the pain she was feeling.

"Luke," Robyn moaned again, and then collapsed onto Ed's chest, letting the sobs come quickly. Ed looked down at her as he felt her hot tears on his shirt, and he softly patted her on the back. He felt like he had to say something, something that would help Robyn feel better.

"Robyn, I-" he stopped as she looked up at him, her beautiful purple eyes shining with tears. He had been considering saying the usual 'I'm sorry,' but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Robyn looked up at him silently.

"Stand up and walk. Keep going forward," Robyn murmured softly as another tear slid down her cheek. Ed looked at her, trying to place the words that sounded so familiar.

"I said that, didn't I?" he said finally, and Robyn nodded with a bittersweet smile.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Meheheheh…and the plot thickens…Well, I was thinking of doing 'American Pie' for Robyn and Ed's duet, but then I started thinking about When September Ends and how Ed was much more likely to hum that, and how it related to Robyn too, since her mom died in September…Heh? I liked it…but I always like doing stuff with double meanings like that…and it gave me a chance to make Ed a shirtless wet singing fiend! XD


	14. I Hate You

Yeah, I know, this took me FOREVER. And I'm sorry. (sigh) My flash drive crashed and I lost all my saved…stuff. AND BOOM! No more Chinese laundry. So this is a rewrite…(sigh) I'll try to get out the next chapters faster, I really will. I've had lots of inspiration, so once we get the gang past thanksgiving then things will really start moving!

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Fourteen – I Hate You

Ed laid silently in his bed and stared at the stain on his ceiling that looked strangely like a rabbit. Once again, he couldn't sleep. He hadn't been able to sleep for weeks, and even when he did manage to fall asleep, he'd wake up a half hour later from nightmares he couldn't even remember after five minutes.

He finally gave up with a sigh, pushed off the covers, and walked over to the window. He rested his head against the cool glass and stared out into the darkness. He could hear a slight thumping sound from outside, so he slowly slid the window open and stared out into the darkness.

A cold breeze greeted him and whipped through his loose hair. Ed pushed the hair away from his face with an agitated sigh and peered closely at the dark silhouette below. It looked like it could be Robyn, but what was she doing? Ed sighed and bent down to grab his shoes. It wasn't like she had woken him up from a peaceful sleep anyway. He might as well see what exactly she was doing.

A few minutes later he was on her driveway, walking towards the dark shape in front of him. He looked closer and noticed that she was holding a basketball in one arm, which she then threw at the trunk of a tree. Her shoulders and back curved gracefully with the toss, and Ed found himself blushing and looked away.

"Ed? Is that you?" Robyn's voice called out as his feet crunched over a few dead leaves in the driveway. Ed looked up to find her staring straight back at him.

"What are you doing out here?" Ed asked, and then added, "You don't even have a basketball hoop!"

"True," Robyn said, picking up the ball and thoughtfully stroking it. "I just…needed to think. There's been a lot going on lately."

"Tell me about it," Ed sighed, catching the ball as she threw it towards him. He looked at it silently for a moment, and then threw it at the tree like Robyn had a few minutes ago. The thump echoed dully through the silent night. "I guess that does make me feel a little better," he said softly, and Robyn laughed.

"That's the spirit," She said, walking over and grabbing the ball. "But you missed," she added as she threw the ball back to him.

"What do you mean? I hit the tree!" Ed cried out as he quickly caught the ball.

"You hit the tree, but you didn't hit the mark," Robyn explained, and motioned for him to come over. Ed walked up next to her as she put her hand on the tree trunk, and curiously put his hand on the tree next to hers. Two deep grooves crisscrossed on the tree, forming into an X.

"Our dad carved this in the tree back when me and Luke were little," Robyn told him, gently running her finger in one of the grooves. "As we grew, so did the tree – just not as quickly," she said with a laugh. She looked over at Ed, then grabbed the ball from him. As Ed desperately tried to snatch the ball back from her, she stepped back and threw the ball at the tree. Both of them stopped fighting to watch as the ball flew in a graceful arc and landed in the grass next to the tree.

"Ha! You missed!" Ed said with a grin. Robyn turned to him and stuck out her tongue.

"Only because you were in my face," she said with a smile as Ed went up to grab the ball. He stepped back and peered through the darkness at the tree.

"Damn, that's hard to see," he muttered under his breath. He slowly took aim and then threw the ball straight at the tree, hitting much lower than where Robyn knew the X was.

"Ha! You missed!" She said and playfully poked Ed in the ribs. Ed suddenly jumped back with an alarmed look on his face.

"Don't touch me there!" he said in a slight pitch higher than his normal voice. Robyn looked at Ed curiously, so he quickly cleared his throat and went to get the ball.

"Ed, are you ticklish?" Robyn asked, and Ed furiously shook his head. Robyn grinned. "I think you are," she teased playfully. Ed stood up and turned around to face her.

"I am not!" he protested loudly, a slight blush rising to his cheeks.

"Well then, let's test that theory!" Robyn said with an evil grin on her face as she reached ten wiggling fingers towards his waist.

"I don't think I want you touching me like that!" Ed cried, jumping away from her. "At least not when you're in this kind of mood!"

"Are you sure you just don't want me to see you squeal like a girl?" Robyn asked as she reached for Ed a second time.

"Hell no!" he cried, running away from her. Robyn chased him around the yard in circles for a few minutes until Ed bent down to grab a pile of dead leaves, which he then threw in her face.

"That's not fair!" Robyn cried, furiously brushing the leaves off.

"Whoever said that tickling was fair?" Ed asked. Robyn brushed the last of the leaves off and took another step towards Ed. Ed looked at her with wide eyes and tried to take a step backward, but ended up slipping on a branch hidden under the leaves beneath him. As he fell backwards, his natural instincts took over and tried to grab Robyn's shoulders for support, but his fall was too powerful and he only ended up dragging her down with him.

Robyn fell with a soft thump directly on top of Ed. She closed her eyes as soft skin met hers. Not another kiss! She should have known better than to start a tickle fight with Ed.

But then she suddenly realized that his lips weren't touching hers. She cautiously opened one eye. Her nose was pressed against Ed's; preventing their lips from making contact, and Ed was staring up at her with a bewildered look on his face. Robyn quickly pushed herself off him and they both stood up and awkwardly tried to look anywhere but at each other.

"I'm gonna go sleep now," Robyn finally stuttered, and raced inside her house. Ed sighed and scratched the back of his head. He suddenly stopped and pulled a piece of a dead leaf from his hair, scowling.

"Why is nature always against me?" he muttered under his breath.

"Just what exactly are we looking for, Major?" Winry asked as they walked through the streets of Goarhausen. She hoped that Armstrong had some idea where they were, since she didn't have a clue.

"We are going to the one place we know the Elric brothers visited," Armstrong said confidently, easily parting the crowd in front of them. "The Central Post Office."

"The Post Office?" Winry repeated slowly with a confused expression on her face.

"Yes. The Post Office. The Colonel said they came here to pick up a package," Armstrong explained as he swung open one of the large doors in front of them. Winry cautiously stepped inside and gasped as she looked around her.

She had definitely never seen anything like this in Resembool before. **(1)** They had walked into a large room about twenty times the size of the little automail shop at home she was so used to. Large columns decorated with bits of gold stood on both sides of the room, and Winry's shoes squeaked on the freshly waxed floor. (Also decorated with gold.) **(2)**

She and Armstrong walked up to one of the many counters and the small man sitting behind it looked up at the strange newcomers with slight interest.

"We're looking for two boys who were here about two months ago," Armstrong stated curtly. Winry could feel her hands nervously rolling into balls.

"Goarhausen Central Post Office does not wish to involve itself in the affairs of its customers," the man replied automatically. "Have a nice day."

"No!" Winry cried, leaping forward and grabbing at the counter. The man continued to write something on the papers in front of him. "Please, you have to help us," winry said desperately, feeling tears staring to work their way out of the corner of her eyes. "Please…one is a little shorter than me and has long blond hair…and the other one is really big and always wears a suit of armor…"

The man looked up at her. "I remember those two," he said softly. Winry's mouth twitched into a smile, thinking of how it was a little hard to forget two people like the Elric brothers.

"We were told they came here to pick up a package," Armstrong explained, and the man nodded.

"The little blond boy was very excited about it. I don't know why…I did kind of get the feeling that he had been waiting for a package for a long time, but anyway… When he got the package he started ripping it open right here on the counter," the man told them. Wirny looked down at the floor beneath her feet. Just two months ago, Ed and Al had stood here. Two months. She'd waited longer than that just for them to come home. "But he didn't seem very happy with what was in the box," the man continued. "Almost like it wasn't what he was expecting to be in there."

"And what was in there?" Wirny asked anxiously, looking up at the man. The man thoughtfully scratched his head.

"There was an envelope…and four small vials. Two of them had red liquid in them, and the other two had blue liquid," he said slowly. "After the blond boy read the note in the envelope, he said something about going down to the docks…the vials had labels on them to, but I can't remember what they said."

"Thank you anyway," Armstrong told the man. "You have been very helpful."

Ed sat on the couch in the living room, glancing up at the window as another car sped past. He sighed and looked back at the clock hanging on the wall. It was eleven thirty on a Friday night and Robyn still wasn't home. He hadn't seen her since school that afternoon; it had almost been like she had disappeared completely off the face of the Earth. She hadn't been at home, and she didn't own a cell phone. Ed wished she could have just told him where she was so he knew she was all right. He knew she was still depressed from Luke's death, but how much effort did it take to say something as simple as 'Bowling Ally?'

Damn it. Why did he _care _so much? He sighed and rested his forehead against the cool glass of the window. It was her life, wasn't she allowed to do what she wanted with it? Another roar of an engine came from outside and Ed quickly glanced up. Unlike the other cars, this one slowed to a stop and Robyn wobbly climbed out of the passenger door.

"I'll be right back," she assured the driver as Ed dashed out the front door. He stopped in front of Robyn and grabbed her shoulders to steady her. Her breath reeked of alcohol.

"Robyn, what are you doing?" Ed demanded. Robyn looked up at him with a silly grin plastered on her face.

"Hiya Ed," she giggled. She turned back to look at the car. "Hey, Bobby!" she called out loudly. "This is Edward Elric! He's a famous alchemist!" she turned back around and tried to walk past Ed. "I gotta go get some clothes," she told Ed, but he kept a tight hold on her and marched up to the car.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!" he yelled at the driver as Robyn weakly struggled against his grip to try and get to the house. Ed pulled her tightly against his hip and continued, "She's a minor! She's not supposed to have alcohol!"

"Hey buddy, I think you should let the lady make her own decisions," the driver said coolly, and Robyn nodded.

"Come on Ed, I want to go to Bobby's place," she whined, but Ed didn't loosen his grip on her.

"She's completely drunk!" Ed exploded. "She isn't capable of making her own decisions anymore!" the man in the car didn't even twitch at Ed's outburst.

"And what are you, her boyfriend?" the man asked, critically looking over Ed.

"Her neighbor," Ed growled. "And I suggest you leave. Now."

"What, are you going to call the police?" the man mocked. Ed snarled and carefully placed his automail foot on the door of the car.

"I don't need the police," he said as slowly pushed his foot against the door hard, letting the sound of screeching metal ring through the silent night. When he put his foot back down the door was badly bent. The man looked at the door, then back at Ed, and slowly put his key in the ignition. Ed triumphantly turned and stated walking Robyn up to the house.

"Robyn, are you okay?" Ed asked once they were safely inside. Robyn finally broke away from his grip and turned to him with a enraged expression on her face.

"I hate you, Ed!" she screamed, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. She was too drunk to notice Ed take a step back as a hurt expression flashed across his face. "Why can't you ever just let me have some fun, damn it?!"

"You would have regretted that choice tomorrow," Ed said softly.

"I don't care! It's my life, not yours! Why can't you just let me ruin it if I want to?!" she yelled back, and then collapsed on the floor, tears running down her face. Ed slowly walked over and scooped her into his arms.

"Because I love you," he murmured softly as Robyn rested her head against his chest. He leisurely started walking up the stairs, being careful not to shake Robyn around too much. "And I would never want anything bad to happen to you." He slowly opened the door to the guest room and walked inside.

"Robyn, is your dad home?" he asked softly. Robyn shook her head and wrapped both her arms around his chest.

"He left on another business trip tonight. I was supposed to come over here tomorrow morning," she muttered into his shirt. Ed tried to ignore the warm arms around him and started to place her on the bed. Robyn looked up at him sadly.

"Please don't leave me," she whispered softly. Ed felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips as he grabbed the desk chair. One minute she was telling him she hated him, the next she was begging him to stay. She probably wouldn't even remember any of this in the morning.

"I'm not going to leave you," he explained as he put the chair next to the bed. "I'm going to stay right here all night, see?" he said, sitting down. Robyn smiled and crawled over to the edge of the bed, putting her head in his lap. She was asleep in minutes, but Ed stayed up for hours until he finally gave into temptation and started stroking her hair. He desperately hoped this wasn't another dream, even if Robyn didn't remember any of it tomorrow morning.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

**(1)** That made me think of Winry in a little blue dress saying, "Den, I don't think we're in Resembool anymore." (Don't own Wizard of Oz either) Yes, I know, I'm a geek. But if anyone could find or draw that picture, it would make my day!

**(2)** For some reason I pictured GCPO (Goarhausen Central Post Office) to look sorta like they made Gringotts in the Harry Potter movies. So Harry Potter fan, that's your visual.

Yay! More romance! No Ed will NOT wake up in an empty bed in the next chapter and be like "Well, crap." Besides, if I played that card again, Kairi probably would have killed me. So this chapter is dedicated to Misery's-Toll and Kairi Angel, the two biggest RobynXEd fans of the whole group. And yes Bagel, I know I said the lipstick scene would be in here, but I just wanted to post this chapter quickly and move on to the next one. Which is also my excuse for it being so short. I will start working on the next chap right away! Happy Spring Break to you all!


	15. Sunshine

Okay, onto chap 15! I really am trying to make up for my long break, really I am! It's just that what with real life butting in at every chance it gets, it's a little hard to set aside time for poor Robby and Edo. But I'm doing better now! MUCH more inspiration has come along, and I'm trying to move it along to the end of part one… :) ANYwho…

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Fifteen – Sunshine

Eight years ago… 

Robyn sat silently in the snow covering her backyard and sighed. She was bored. It was a plain and simple fact. After all, you can only be amused with making snowmen and snow angels by yourself for only so long. But she didn't want to go back inside; the air outside was just so…clean and fresh.

"Hey Sunshine, you want to come in and have some hot chocolate?" Robyn looked up at her mother. Normally she would have smiled at the nickname that was a secret code between her and her mother, but today she was too bored to smile at anything.

"Nah," she sighed, rolling a handful of snow into a ball. Her mother walked over and sat down in the snow behind her, wrapping her arms tightly around Robyn's middle.

"What's the matter, Sunshine?" her mother cooed. Robyn sighed again as she threw her fresh snowball against the ground, and then leaned back against her mother.

"I'm _bored_!" she groaned, and her mother smiled.

"Did you build a snowman?" she asked.

"Yep."

"How about snow angels?"

'Did 'em."

"Eating snow?" her mother asked mischievously.

"It's just frozen water," Robyn sighed.

"Well, how about a snowball fight?"

"I don't have anyone to fight with."

"Well, now you do," Robyn's mother said, pushing her daughter up. Robyn smiled broadly at her mother, and then ran off to a corner of the yard to make some ammunition. She had a decent sized pile of snowballs when she felt a snowball hit the center of her back. She quickly turned around with a snowball in each hand, and whirled one at her mother.

"So this is what you're doing out here," Robyn heard a voice say. She looked up and saw her dad and Luke standing side by side in winter coats.

"Can we join?" Luke asked, and Robyn answered by throwing a snowball straight at his chest. The four of them spent most of the day outside, not only having snowball fights, but also adding to Robyn's collection of snowmen and snow angels.

Robyn stared at the snow falling outside from her spot on the bed as she remembered that winter day that seemed so long ago. A tear slowly slid down her cheek as she thought about what happened last night. What her mother say if she was alive now and had been the one to see her stumbling into the house instead of Ed? What would she say? Robyn moaned and held both her palms to her forehead. What did _Ed _say? She could vaguely remember him bringing her inside, but definitely not any details of how he had reacted.

'_He was probably furious at first, and then he probably felt guilty for not keeping better track of me,' _Robyn thought with a smile.

"Anime otaku," she muttered under her breath. She then sighed and leaned back against the cool pillows behind her. If nobody talked in a normal voice for at least a few hours, then she would be fine.

"Mornin' Sunshine," she heard from the door. She looked up at Ed, who was holding a glass of ice water in one hand. Her eyes widened at the old nickname and she tried desperately to remember something from last night.

"I didn't tell you about that, did I?" she asked softly.

"_Mommy, why do you always call me Sunshine?" Robyn asked as she picked at her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. _

"_It's my way of saying 'I love you,'" her mother said simply as she spread jelly on a piece of bread for her sandwich._

"_How does that say you love me?" Robyn asked curiously as she thoughtfully took a bite out of her sandwich. Her mother smiled and sat down in the seat next to her, setting her freshly made sandwich on the table. _

"_You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine," her mother sang with a smile. "You make me happy when skies are gray. You'll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my Sunshine away." Robyn smiled as her mother wrapped her in a hug. _

Ed cocked his head, and then flashed a concerned look as he watched her hold a hand to her head, and quickly made sure he was whispering so he wouldn't add to her headache. "Tell me what?" he asked as Robyn creased her eyebrows in concentration. "I just said 'Mornin' Sunshine,' that's all." Robyn looked back up at him thoughtfully for a moment, and then shrugged.

"If this is what the sun feels like in the morning, then I'm surprised we have sun at all," she said with a bitter laugh as Ed walked over and put the glass on the nightstand next to her.

"Humor," Ed said with a slight smile. "That's good. Shows you're getting better."

Robyn narrowed her eyes and looked at him suspiciously. "Why are you so happy?" she asked, and Ed held the glass of water out towards her as he sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"I just got something off my chest, that's all," he said with a careless shrug. Robyn gratefully took the glass of water and tried to push herself into a sitting position. Ed held out a hand to help, and Robyn looked at him with a confused expression.

"What is _with _you today?" she said, looking him over as if she expected something else to have changed with his mood. "Aliens kidnapped the real Ed, didn't they?"

"No, I'm pretty sure that I'm the real Ed," he said slowly, "Can't a guy be happy without everyone wondering what happened to get him in such a mood?"

"Sure," Robyn said, taking a sip of the water. "Just as long as that guy's not you." She put the water back on the nightstand and leaned back against her pillows with a sigh. "So Sunshine, what plans have you got for Saturday morning?" Ed smiled at the new nickname. It was definitely better than being called pipsqueak.

"Nothing," Ed answered simply. "I'm just going to stay here and help you feel better."

Robyn sat up straighter and looked at him. "Nothing?" she asked in astonishment. "You're not even going to study Alchemy with Al?"

"Nope," Ed answered with a shake of his head. "I needed a break anyway."

"Does Al know about this?" Robyn asked, and Ed smiled slightly.

"Yeah," he answered slowly, leaning back in the chair and closing his eyes. "But I told him you were recovering from the flu, not a night out getting drunk." Robyn blushed and sank down under the covers a little.

"It felt good at the time," she said meekly. Ed opened his eyes and looked back over at her.

"Doesn't feel so good now, does it?" he asked with a slight smile, and Robyn stuck her tongue out in reply. "Drink some more water," Ed told her absently.

"Don't you still have Anger Management classes?" Robyn asked, and Ed blushed and looked away. "Go," Robyn told him sternly, but Ed pretended to ignore her.

"Now Robyn, you're starting to ruin my good mood," Ed said with a sigh as he looked back at her. Robyn held his gaze steadily and he asked softly, "When's your dad supposed to get back?"

"I told you about that last night?" Robyn moaned and leaned back into the pillows. "A long time. I think he said that he wouldn't be back until the day after Thanksgiving." Ed almost whistled, but he quickly stopped himself after remembering Robyn's headache.

A whole month. She would be living in his house for a whole month. When he wasn't busy studying with Al (or warding off any comments about height) how would he be able to stand it? And she would be there for Thanksgiving too, so he would have to eat a nice family dinner with her.

"Go to your Anger Management," Robyn mumbled from the bed with closed eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"Robert and Sherry are out anyway, so I don't have a ride," Ed said smugly, crossing his arms across his chest. Robyn rolled her eyes with a sigh and reached into her back pocket. She pulled out a ring of keys and tossed it to Ed.

"The gold one opens the lock on my bike," she told him. "It's tied up in my driveway. It's a boy's bike anyway, so you should be fine." She opened one eye and looked at him with a smile. "Red. Ten-speed. You'll like it." Ed rolled his eyes and walked out the door. Robyn sighed and leaned deeper into the pillows.

After what seemed like only a few minutes, Ed came back in the room with Al by his side as he pulled a hoodie over his head.

"Al's going to care of you while I'm gone," Ed said softly. "And, um…I don't know if it actually works, but in the movies people always take showers to feel better," he told her, and Robyn smiled and nodded. He then turned to Al, holding Robyn's keys in one hand. "She's got a really bad headache, so try not to move around too much, okay?"

"Okay," Al agreed as he glanced over at Robyn. Robyn smiled at him weakly from her spot on the bed. "Be careful, Brother," he said to Ed, who nodded.

"Thanks a bunch, Robyn," Ed said sourly as he walked out the door, and Robyn laughed. "The next time you think about how I'm never in a good mood, remember today!" he called as he walked out the front door.

"What's he mean by that?" Al asked as he cocked his head.

"Well, for some strange reason the cosmos have not yet defined, Ed was in a good mood today," Robyn said with a smile. "But he probably won't be after an hour of Anger Management."

"Oh," Al said as he sat down in the chair next to Robyn. "Are you sure he didn't just have another pixie stick from Halloween? You'd be surprised what a little sugar can do." Robyn laughed and snuggled under the covers to go back to sleep.

"Maybe you're right, Al. Maybe he just had a little too much sugar in his system,"

Robyn mumbled softly as her eyes closed.

Robyn could hear Ed's and Al's voices talking about alchemy when she woke up again. She smiled as she opened her eyes and looked at the scene before her. The two of them were kneeling in front of a transmutation circle and whispering to make sure they wouldn't wake up Robyn or hurt her head.

"I think I'll take a shower now," Robyn said as she got out of the bed as both the boys looked up at her. She was about to walk out the door when she looked back at Ed. "Sunshine, before I forget, how were your Anger Management classes?" she asked, and Ed rolled his eyes.

"We learned about how anger isn't a solution," he said with a sigh. He then looked straight up at Robyn brightly. "And I think she's right." He added. Robyn and Al both gasped and looked at Ed intently. "Anger isn't _a_ solution, it's _the_ solution!" he added evilly. Robyn and Al both let out the breath they had been holding, and then Robyn suddenly gasped again.

"Like forty-two!" she exclaimed, as if it was the answer to everything. Ed and Al both looked at her curiously, but she quickly left to take her shower. Al then turned to his brother.

"Did she just call you 'Sunshine?'" he asked, and Ed nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah," he muttered. "She just started calling me that today since I was so happy," he explained.

Robyn rushed into the room a few minutes later, her wet hair swinging in her face.

"It's snowing again!" she said gleefully. "Come on, let's go play outside!" Ed and Al both looked at each other, and Ed shrugged carelessly.

First Robyn and Ed had to get on their winter coats; with Al making sure they zipped them up and didn't have any unexpected rips somewhere on the coat. Then the three of them went outside, where big flakes falling from the sky greeted them cheerily. Robyn immediately stuck her tongue out and started racing around in circles. After she had managed to catch a snowflake on her tongue, she ran back up Ed, who had both his hands stuck in his pockets.

"Tag!" Robyn cried out, poking him in the center of the chest and then running across the yard.

"That's not fair!" Ed called back, not moving from his position. He heard Robyn blow a raspberry at him from the other side of the yard. Ed looked over at Al standing next to him put a hand squarely on his chest plate. "Tag," he said simply before running across the yard to join Robyn.

"Brother! Robyn! Come on you guys!" Al called out before giving up and chasing after them. The snow kept falling thickly around them, and soon one of Al's smooth metal feet slipped on the wet snow on the ground, sending Al tumbling into the other two.

"Tag," Al said simply.

"Which one?" Robyn said with a laugh. "We're both on top of you."

Al laughed with her. "You, since you're the one who started it," he said as Ed pushed himself off his brother. He then held out his left hand to Robyn and helped her down off Al, who then pushed himself up and brushed the snow off.

"Okay, I'm it," Robyn said with an evil smile that sent the two brothers scuttling across the yard. But the whole time she kept thinking about how warm and soft Ed's hand had felt.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

DONE! Once again, short, I know, but this time it's only because the next part is going to be Thanksgiving, and I figured that would be too big of a time leap, so I'm going to stop it there. But I finally got to do a scene with Robyn as a kid! Hee. That made me happy. I figured she's sixteen now, so eight years ago would make her…eight. So it's before Sept 11, and she's a little older than I originally planned, but still old enough to have fun in the snow. (I was originally thinking about a scene where she was five and going to school for the first time. Maybe later. We have enough flashbacks for this chappie.) Many thanks to Misery's-Toll and nightbug08 who helped me think of the violence joke. And I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist the 42 joke. XD (for all you hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy fans) Phew, long author's note!


	16. Ed vs The Crazy Ice Cream Lady

Okay, this is now the third time I've tried to sit down and write this chapter. Both of the previous times I've completely scrapped it and started over, so I'm hoping I won't have to do that this time. And then I watched all six or seven hours of season three of Reboot the other day. It made me think of how similar big Enzo is to Ed. Anger problems… XD If you haven't seen Reboot before, I highly suggest it. ANYwho…

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Sixteen – Ed vs. The Crazy Ice Cream Lady

Ed slouched on the sofa as he watched the broadcast of the Thanksgiving parade on TV. The broadcasters were currently explaining all the different people it took to pay for one big Elmo balloon. _What _was Elmo anyway? He looked like an unfinished strawberry smoothie the blender had rejected.

"Ed, are you ready to see the family?" Sherry called from the kitchen. Smells kept wafting to Ed from her direction and making his stomach rumble impatiently. Thanksgiving was just another form of torture for kids who didn't behave.

"Yeah, I'm ready," He called back as a particularly strong smell of stuffing reached his nostrils.

"Do you look nice?" Sherry asked. Ed tore his eyes away from the TV and looked down at his clothes. He was wearing a hoodie, gloves, jeans and sneakers – the normal outfit of choice for Ed. He looked over his clothes quickly to try and find any flaws. A few crumbs from his pop-tart that morning were littered across his hoodie, and he quickly brushed them to the side, not caring to think about how little he must have moved in order to still have crumbs from breakfast hanging around.

"Yeah," he assured Sherry two seconds before she appeared in the archway between the kitchen and the dining room.

"Edward!" Sherry said in surprise and Ed sank into the cushions to try and block out some of the sound. He had gotten rid of the crumbs, so what was she angry about? "This will be the first time most of these people will be seeing you, and I want you to look nice. Now, go put on that suit I left in your room this morning," She scolded. Ed let out an exasperated sigh and turned back to the TV. "Now, where's Robyn? Her father left me something for her to wear."

"What?" Ed asked excitedly, looking back at Sherry. Seeing Robyn in whatever clothes her father picked out for her would definitely be more entertaining than TV.

"You'll have to wait until dinner to see," Sherry said, and Ed turned back to the TV with a sigh. He should have known better than to get his hopes up. After all, this was the day of waiting until dinner. That was why they called it Thanksgiving, Ed realized with a smirk. Because everyone was desperately giving thanks for the chance to finally eat by the time dinner came.

"Happy Thanksgiving," a sleepy voice mumbled from the stairs. Ed looked up and chuckled at the sight of Robyn standing by the stairs and rubbing her eyes. She was awake and dressed, but just barely. And now Sherry was going to force her into some outfit her dad had picked out for her.

"Oh, Robyn darling," Sherry said as if on cue, "Your father gave me the loveliest outfit for you to wear today!" Robyn looked around Sherry to Ed's comfy spot on the couch with a desperate plea written across her face. Ed smirked again as he thought of what must have been going across her mind.

_Darling? Loveliest? HELP!_

Sherry didn't notice Robyn's silent pleas and dragged her back up the stairs to what Ed was pretty sure she would consider the torture chamber.

Ed flicked off the TV with a sigh and dragged himself off the couch. If Robyn was going to be forced into whatever outfit her dad had left for her, he might as well put on the suit Sherry left him. At least then he knew he wouldn't be the only stupid-looking one around.

Fifteen minutes later, Ed was deeply regretting his choice. One of the reasons was because he had no idea how to tie a tie. He considered going to ask Robyn if she knew, since he had once seen that friend of hers – Kari – at school with a tie on. If Kari knew then maybe Robyn did too.

No. Ties were a guy thing and it would be way too embarrassing to go to a girl for help with a tie. Would Al know how to tie a tie? He knew that his younger brother certainly wouldn't laugh at him, but if Robyn ever found out that his younger brother had been the one to tie his tie, then he would never hear the end of it. Ed glanced back down at the tie, and then decided to risk it, making a run to the door.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Robyn sat stubbornly on the bed and stared at the hanger in front of her lethally.

No.

Hell no.

How could her father do this to her? If Sherry said one word to her father about how she hadn't worn the clothes he had specifically got for her to wear, then she would be grounded for the rest of her life.

But of all the clothes to pick, why did he have to pick that _thing?!_

A dress. A real, honest-to-goodness dress. She could even remember wearing it before her mother had died. Back then it had come just below her knees. Luckily for her she hadn't grown much since then.

It was actually a pretty nice dress if you were into that sort of thing, and now that she knew about FMA, it even reminded Robyn a little bit of the kind of dresses Winry wore. The top had a nice square cut by the neck and it had no sleeves to cover up her shoulders. The rest just flowed into a plain, simple dress that matched her eyes almost perfectly. Back before her mom had died, Robyn had loved wearing dresses, and she had especially loved wearing that one just to hear her mom say how pretty her eyes looked. But now who would be around to say her eyes looked pretty?

Ed.

She shook away the thought impatiently. Ed wouldn't compliment her on her eyes; that just wasn't the type of guy he was. Robyn looked back at the dress and pulled herself off the bed. In one swift movement she pulled off her hoodie and then her t-shirt. She grabbed the dress and was about to pull it over her head when she glanced at her bare arm.

She pinched her bicep self-consciously and sighed. Why did she have to be so skinny? Most girls spent their days talking about how to lose weight, but what about girls like her whose arms looked like sticks? She turned away from her arm and looked down at her at the real problem area – her stomach. Judging from the pictures she had seen, Robyn guessed that her stomach was probably smaller than one of Armstrong's _biceps._ It wasn't normal. It made people think she was anorexic, and she wasn't. She _never _liked to skip meals because she worried that a missed meal would make her look even skinner than she was.

A sudden gasp from the doorway interrupted her out of her thoughts and she looked up just in time to see it click shut.

"Ed? Was that you?" she called out, quickly sliding the dress over her head.

"No," Ed's voice called back, and then Robyn heard the sound of a hand being slapped to his forehead. Robyn smiled to herself and pulled off her pants and socks from underneath the dress. She quickly walked back over to the door and opened it again after smoothing out any last wrinkles.

"It's okay now," she assured Ed, who had been sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Ed looked up at her with a blush still reddening his cheeks, and then his mouth suddenly dropped in surprise. He quickly scrambled to his feet and stared at Robyn in surprise.

"Yo-you're wearing a dress!" he stammered, caught off guard by the surprise. Robyn rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Wow Ed," she said sarcastically. "I always thought they called you a child prodigy because of your gift in alchemy, not because of your amazing talent of stating the obvious. You could get a few good scholarships for that, you know."

She looked him over once and smiled. "You look nice, Ed," she said, and Ed's blush deepened even more. She walked past him and into the bathroom. "But your tie is crooked," she added before closing the door. Ed scowled and reached down to try straightening his tie once again.

Half an hour later Ed was back in front of the TV, but this time he was risking it down in the basement with Al, who was currently swaying happily to a song Julia Roberts was singing. Ed looked over at his younger brother and chuckled silently to himself.

"Robyn, do you have a driver's license?" Ed heard Sherry call from upstairs. He and Al both temporarily forgot about Julia Roberts and looked up at the door curiously.

"Yeah, why?" Robyn called back down in an annoyed voice. Ed could tell that she obviously didn't want to go outside the safe wall of the house while she was wearing a dress.

"The pumpkin pie fell on the floor," Sherry explained, "Could you please go to the store and pick up some dessert, hon?" Ed grinned and turned back to the TV, wondering silently how badly Robyn would want to hit Sherry. But he didn't hear any last dying screams from Sherry as she sank into a pile of blood, in fact, the whole house seemed…peaceful.

Then the familiar sound of Robyn's feet clomping down to the basement came a few minutes later, breaking the house out of it's strange silence. Robyn zipped up her coat and slid a ring of keys into the pocket.

"Doesn't that woman know how crazy shopping is on Thanksgiving?" Robyn muttered angrily under her breath and then turned to Ed. "Come on," she said sternly, motioning for him to get up. "If I'm going shopping for _pie_ on Thanksgiving, I'm taking the human weapon with me."

"What?!" Ed shouted in surprise and standing up angrily. "I'm not going out shopping in a suit!" Al sighed and shook his head.

"Do you think I want to go shopping in a _dress_?!" Robyn shouted back, glaring angrily at Ed. "Get your coat. Now," she growled. Ed scowled and then turned to go back up stairs. Robyn watched him carefully as he stormed up the stairs. She then hurriedly turned to Al.

"Al, Ed's birthday is coming up soon, right?" she whispered quickly. Al was caught off guard by this sudden question and he stared silently at Robyn in surprise. "His birthday is in winter right?" Robyn continued, looking up at the stairs cautiously. "So it's coming up soon? Al!" she hissed urgently.

'Yeah…" Al answered absently, still trying to understand the sudden change in Robyn's mood.

"When, Al?!" Robyn whispered as she glanced back at the door. "When is it?!"

"January third," Al told her, and then suddenly jerked out of his thoughts. "But why-?" he stopped suddenly as the door at the top of the stairs creaked open. Ed peeked his head in and glared down at Robyn.

"Well? Are we going or not?" he demanded. "I want to get this over with."

"Yeah, we're going Sunshine," Robyn called back in an angry voice. "Just hang on for two seconds!" Ed rolled his eyes and closed the door again.

"Don't tell Ed about this, okay?" Robyn whispered hurriedly to Al before she ran up the stairs after Ed. Ed was leaning lazily against the wall of the living room, and once Robyn came out of the door to the basement he immediately went out the door. Robyn smiled as she sat in the driver's seat of the borrowed car and put the keys in the ignition.

"I don't get it," Ed said plainly as he stared out the window of the car. Robyn slowly pulled the car out of the driveway and turned into the street. "If you don't want to go shopping in a dress, then why are you doing this?" Robyn rolled her eyes with a sigh and focused on the road ahead.

"Because if my father hears that I put one toe out of line, I'll be grounded for a long time," she said grimly.

"And so you have to drag me into it?" Ed said angrily, turning back to look at her. Robyn resisted the urge to look over at him and kept her eyes focused on the road.

"Don't worry Ed, there'll be plenty of old ladies to elbow for the last pie," she said with a small grin. Ed sighed and leaned back against the window, watching as the snow covered trees flew past.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Robyn dragged Ed through the isles of the store as she desperately searched for a dessert they could eat that night. Everything in the store was either out of stock or inedible. Robyn was starting to get desperate. She needed to bring something home.

"They've run out of pies," she told Ed as she screeched to a stop in front of the shelves. Ed managed to finally pull himself out of her grip and stared at the empty shelves with Robyn.

"Ice cream," he suggested quickly, and then he and Robyn both went sprinting through the store, with Robyn's dress flapping behind her. They slid to a stop in front of the refrigerated section just as a woman in jeans started reaching for the last container of mint chip ice cream.

"No!" Ed screamed, lunging for the ice cream. His and the woman's hand landed on it at the same time. "Back off lady!" Ed growled ferociously as he tried to stare her down. It didn't work so well, considering that he was shorter than the woman.

"I need it!" the woman said stubbornly as she picked it up

"We need it too!" Ed cried out, attempting to take it from her. The two of them fiercely narrowed their eyes and stared at each other. Each of them looked like they were trying to size the other one up. Then Ed suddenly let go of the ice cream and took a small step backward.

"You know, I don't think it's right to punch a lady in the face for some ice cream," He said slowly, sounding older than his age for once.

"Right," the woman said angrily. "So you're going to back off and let me have the ice cream."

"Actually, I had a slightly different plan in mind," Ed said thoughtfully, touching a finger to his chin and looking at the ceiling.

"And just what might that be?" the woman asked.

"Run like hell!" Ed yelled, grabbing the ice cream out of the woman's hands and making a beeline towards the registers. Robyn took one glance at the angry woman before she decided it would be in her best interest to follow him.

Ed finally ground to a halt at the end of a checkout line with the ice cream clutched protectively to his chest. He glanced behind him once, and after seeing no one, he turned back to face the line in front of him and sighed heavily.

"We made it," he said slowly, as if he didn't believe it himself.

"Well, I didn't," Robyn panted, leaning on a candy display beside the counter for extra support. "You try running in a dress and fancy shoes!"

"Sorry," Ed mumbled incoherently as Robyn fumbled around in her coat pocket for the twenty-dollar bill Sherry had given her. **(1)** Neither of them noticed the ice cream lady slowly walking up the isle towards them.

Just as Ed and Robyn were about to get rung up, a loud scream of "Hee-ya!" rang through the air flowed by a sharp crack from Ed's right wrist. Ed dropped the ice cream in surprise, and the lady grabbed it and ran.

"Hey! Give that back! We were in the line, asshole!" Robyn shouted at the back of the retreating woman. She then turned her focus to Ed, who was looking down at his hand in horror. "Well? Aren't you going to go after her?" Robyn asked expectantly. "I certainly can't in this get-up!"

"I can't move my hand," Ed whispered to her urgently. Robyn felt her whole body stiffen as she realized the seriousness of the situation. No one here even thought automail existed. How would they find someone who could _fix_ it?

"Where's Winry when you need her?" Robyn muttered under her breath. "Come on Sunshine," she said, motioning to Ed. "Act natural." She could hear the scoff from Ed behind her as they quickly walked out the door.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Robyn and Ed walked slowly into the dimly lit mechanic shop. Ed could hear a loud clanging from the other side of the shop, but he couldn't make out the silhouette coming form the direction of the sound. The whole place seemed smoky and even a little spooky in a way.

"Okay," Robyn whispered softly to Ed. "I just want you to know, he's a little eccentric." Ed felt his eyebrows bunch together.

"Just what exactly do you mean by 'Eccentric?'" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, gay, but-" Robyn stopped and looked up at the man over by the counter.

"Just hang on a sec," Robyn said to him before hurrying up to silhouette. The man stopped fumbling around in his toolbox to listen to Robyn when she walked up to him.

"Hey Cory," Robyn said slowly, and Ed could tell that she was quickly stringing up sentences in her head to use on whoever the man was.

"It's been a while, Robyn. I was beginning to think you forgot about me," a creamy voice said from the shadows, hinted with a slight accent that Ed couldn't quite place. "Either that or the snow beast got you. So what took you so long?"

"Well, school started back up and-"

"Oh come on, Robyn," the man sighed. "Every time you come in here it's for a favor. So what is it this time?" Robyn sighed and rested her elobows on the counter and her head in her palms.

"Remember when I told you about that manga, Fullmetal Alchemist?'

"Sweetheart," the man said with a laugh, "You've told me about so many different mangas there's no way I could possibly keep them all straight."

"The one about the cute blond boy with the metal arm," Robyn explained to the man. Ed felt himself blush slightly at the use of the word "cute," but he quickly shook it off. "Cute" was always a better adjective than "short."

"Oh! Oh course I remember that one!" the man said now dropping any work he had been trying to do despite Robyn's presence. "You got some more pictures of him, hon?"

"Not exactly," Robyn said with a slight laugh to her voice. "But," she said slowly and then paused. "Would you believe me if I told you it was real?" Ed heard the man sigh heavily beside Robyn.

"Oh, I sure wish it was Robbie," he said dreamily. "I sure wish it was."

"Well," Robyn said and then paused nervously. "It is."

"It is what?"

"It is real," Robyn told him and then turned towards Ed's direction. "Come on over here, Ed!" she called into the smog. Ed cautiously walked up to the counter and looked of the face of the man that had been a silhouette only moments before.

He had the stereotypical pretty boy face – a sharp chin and fine features accompanied by short blond hair and blue eyes. Ed could feel that he was being looked over in he same sort of way and probably also being taken for a pretty boy.

"Ed this is Cory," Robyn told him, motioning to the other man. "Cory, this is my neighbor, the Fullmetal Alchemist." Cory grinned at Ed in a way that made him feel rather uncomfortable.

"He needs his arm fixed, doesn't he?" Cory said instantly, now switching his gaze over to Robyn. "And you came to me because you knew I wouldn't tell anyone."

"In a nutshell," Robyn said flatly. "So can you help him?"

"I'll see what I can do," he told Robyn and then turned to Ed with a sly grin as he flicked on a brighter light overhead. "Take off your shirt," told Ed simply. Ed paled. "I con't do anything if I can't see it," Cory said, and Ed gulped, but slowly peeled off his jacket and then loosened the tie around his neck. Now he would need Al to help him tie it again.

Ed felt extremely bare without any shirt on as Cory walked around him in a circle. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Robyn's back as she looked at something on Cory's shelves. At least he wouldn't need to worry about her watching him, even though she had probably seen him do this a dozen times in the manga.

"You've got nice hair," Cory remarked smoothly from behind Ed. "But I would suggest putting eggs on it. It sounds corny, but it really does work."

"Could we please focus on my arm?" Ed growled, and he heard a small laugh from where Robyn was standing. Great. So she wasn't looking, but she wasn't making any attempt to stop herself from listening.

"Okay then, show me how bad it is," Cory said firmly. "Move your shoulder," he commanded, and Ed moved his shoulder in a wide circle. "Elbow," Cory commanded again, and Ed bent his arm back and forth. "Wrist," Cory instructed, but this time Ed was still.

"That's about where it stops," Ed told him, and Cory nodded.

"Robyn, get me a screwdriver," Cory said over his shoulder, and then turned back to Ed. "I'm going to take a little peekie inside our friend Ed here," he said with a grin, and Ed felt all the blood drain from his face. He gulped as Robyn handed Cory the screwdriver and Cory removed the first screw from his arm.

Cory slowly pulled off the top plate of Ed's arm and looked inside cautiously. Even Robyn couldn't help herself and walked over to look at all the different colored wires flowing together in smooth patterns through Ed's arm.

"That is way color than any of the pictures," Robyn breathed. Ed blushed and turned away. But it wasn't because she had complimented his arm, but because he had felt the hot tickle of her breath on his chest.

"Hey!" he yelped and turned back with a jump as Cory squeezed a few of the wires, making Ed's entire nervous system jump from the impact.

"It's okay, cutie, I'm right here," Cory said with a smile, and then turned down to Ed's arm "Here's the problem," he said seriously, pointing down by Ed's wrist. Ed peered down next to Cory's finger and saw the problem. A group of the wires had been bent into a V shape, cutting off their contact to the wrist.

"Damn ice cream lady," Ed muttered under his breath. "If I ever see her again I'll-I'll-" He was cut off as Cory suddenly bent the wires back into their normal shape.

"Ow!" Ed said angrily as Cory went back to the counter to get his toolbox. Cory pulled out some wire and electrical tape and quickly made a support for the bent wires.

"It won't last long, I'm afraid," Cory explained as Ed experimentally flexed his wrist. The support wire bent with the others when he bent his wrist, and then pushed them back into an upright position when he straightened his wrist. "I suggest you get back to that mechanic of yours – wherever she is – and have her fix that properly," Cory told Ed as he started pulling his clothes back on.

"But I bet you both have places to go on Thanksgiving," Cory said, tucking the tape back into his toolbox. "So I'll let you both go and have fun."

"What about you, Cory?" Robyn asked with a concerned look on her face as Ed scowled down at his tie. "You could come with us."

"No, I have places to go too," Cory said with a weak smile. "My mother's cooking a huge turkey at home. I just hate waiting," he added wistfully.

"Okay, I'll see you later," Robyn said with a smile as they hugged goodbye with a friendly smile. Then she and Ed walked back out into the blinding sunlight.

"So how exactly do you two know each other?" Ed asked slowly as they walked over to the car.

"He and Luke were old friends," Robyn said softly. "Way back to around first grade, before Cory knew he was gay." She sighed and then looked over at Ed. "Ed! What did you do to your tie?!" she said with a laugh. Ed scowled and crossed his arms. He had attempted to tie it back in the shop, but with minimal light and knowledge of ties, t had ended up looking more like a Celtic knot – never ending and extremely confusing.

"Sherry will notice that," Robyn said with a chuckle as she tried to keep herself from laughing very loudly.

"Fine, then _you_ fix it," Ed said with a scowl. Robyn's smile widened slightly and she reached over and started unknotting it.

"If you say so," she mumbled under her breath as she concentrated on the tie. Ed sighed and looked up at the sky. The day had started with Robyn in a dress, and now she was fixing his tie. He didn't even want to think about what could happen next.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

**(1)** I'm just a bill, yes I'm only a bill, and I'm sittin' here on capitol hill… Ha! That will be stuck in your head for hours now, right!?

Yay! Another post! I was originally going to do this and thanksgiving as one long hunka chapter, but it was getting _really _long and it's now 11:00 at night so I just want to finish this and post it. Besides, this was fun, right? What with Cody and all… Next chapter will be a doozy. I promise and I really want to write it, but I'm exhausted… sleepy time now… bye-bye…


	17. Never Say Goodbye

Okay, okay, I'm working on it. It's all right, we'll find out what important stuff happens on Thanksgiving. XD And now I don't know what else to say other than – REVIEW! I'm also very anxious to start this chapter, so I'm going to cut off this author's note early. XD

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Seventeen – Never Say Goodbye

Ed sat impatiently on the couch as the all too familiar smell of Robyn's cinnamon chip cookies drifted out from the kitchen. After getting Ed's arm fixed, Robyn had made a quick stop at her house to get the cinnamon chips so she could make cookies for dessert. They weren't quite as traditional as pumpkin pie, and they definitely took more time than ice cream, but at least they had a desert.

Ed looked up as Robyn trudged into the living and flopped on the couch with a sigh. A smudge of flour was on her left cheek, and her eyes were already starting to flutter closed.

"Next year I'm not even going to bother waking up for Thanksgiving," Robyn muttered sleepily seconds before the doorbell rang. Ed got up with a sigh and walked over to open the door. A woman with red hair and two little girls was standing behind it.

"Um… Hello," Ed said slowly. He hadn't even met any of Robert and Sherry's relatives before today, and now they were all going to be here.

"Hello there," the woman said kindly. "You're Edward, right?" she asked and Ed nodded. "I'm Chloe, Sherry's sister," she explained as she bent down to unbutton the girls' coats. "And these are my daughters, Stephanie and Emily."

"We're twins," one of the girls explained to Ed. He couldn't tell which one was Stephanie and which was Emily.

"Do you really have a metal arm like mommy said?" the other girl asked as their mother walked over to the closet to hang up their coats. Ed pulled off his right glove with a smile and held out the automail to the girls.

"Wow," they both breathed simultaneously and grabbed onto his fingers to pull the hand down to their height. Ed playfully rotated his pinkie in a circle, and both the girls squealed in delight.

"Whatever you're cooking smells really good," their mother commented as she walked into the kitchen. The twins let go of Ed's hand and both followed their mother like little ducklings. Ed pulled his glove back on with a slight sigh and turned to go back to sitting on the sofa again.

Robyn was now leaning up against the back of the sofa, sound asleep. Ed sat down silently next to her and then gently wiped the smudge of flour off her cheek. He felt her chest heave a sigh, and then she fell onto his shoulder. Ed's lips twitched into a smile. Maybe Thanksgiving wasn't such a bad holiday after all.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Ed sighed and leaned against the back of his chair. They had finally managed to get the food out on the table and eat it, but now the grown-ups were busy _talking._ He didn't even have the slightest clue what they were talking about. Probably something they had seen on Nightline, or something else along the lines of that.

The two twins sat off to the side of the table, playing with their Barbies. (At least, that was what Ed guessed they were. He didn't know much when it came to dolls.) They were close enough to their mother that she could keep a close eye on them and know if anything happened between them. But she was too involved in the discussion about whatever they were talking about to really notice what her daughters were doing.

Ed looked down the table at Robyn's seat. Her head was resting on the table with all her hair in front of her face. None of the grown-ups seemed to care, or even notice. Robyn picked up her head slightly and her eyes met with Ed's. Her lips formed into a knowing smile, and then she mouthed, _"Let's get out of here." _Ed nodded and slid his chair out from the table.

The twin girls noticed Ed and Robyn going down to the basement and did what any normal six-year olds would do – followed them. After all, they didn't want to miss out on any fun. And they also knew that the trick to having fun at others people's houses usually meant going into their basement. You usually had to wait until someone else went down there, but that was typically where all the cool stuff was hidden.

Al was in his usual corner of the room, silently reading Ed's Chemistry book. But as soon as he heard the two familiar sets of feet walking down the stairs, he instantly perked and looked up.

"Hey Al, let's do something exciting," Ed said as he clomped down the stairs. Robyn sleepily nodded her head in agreement. Al smiled cheerily and shut the chemistry book.

"Okay," he said happily, but then suddenly froze. Ed and Robyn looked at each other in surprise, and then turned around to look behind them. The two girls, Stephanie and Emily, were standing at the top of the stairs with their mouths hanging open.

"Wow! Cool!" they said and then ran down the stairs into Al's open lap. "Is he a robot?" one asked excitedly.

"Robot?" Al repeated faintly, but Robyn had woken up from the shock of the two girls, and she quickly ran with the idea.

"Yeah, he's robot," Robyn told them quickly and then added in a hushed voice, "But we have to keep him secret from the grown-ups because then they won't let him play with us."

"Oooh," both the girls said perceptively.

"Will he play with _us_?" one asked, and Robyn looked up at Al.

"Sure," Al said agreeably, even though he still didn't like the use of the term "Robot."

"I like to play hide and seek!" one of the girls told Al happily.

"I do too!" the other one added. Robyn sighed and sat down on the sofa. If it was true that a kitten died every time someone called Al a robot, then they had just killed about three kittens. Maybe two.

"Do you guys like hiding or seeking better?" Al asked them kindly.

"HIDING!" they both shouted simultaneously.

"Okay then, you better go find a good hiding place, because I'm I pretty good seeker," Al told them. The girls happily ran off as Al put his hands over his eyes and started counting to fifty.

"I did say exciting," Ed mumbled under his breath as the two girls found his red coat lying on the floor and both crept underneath it with a giggle. Robyn laughed slightly and then leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. If this kept up, she would never get a chance to sleep today.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Al announced and then pulled both his hands off his eyes. He noticed the giggling red coat immediately, but instead he wandered around the room in bewilderment.

"I wonder where they went?" Al said loudly, and Ed snickered slightly. "Those two are really good hiders. I'll never find them," Al sighed as he slowly walked over to Ed's coat. "Look! Someone left their coat on the floor!" Al said in mock surprise. "I should pick that up. We don't want somebody to trip on it!" He bent down and picked up the coat, uncovering the two girls, who then jumped out at him with a laugh.

"I'm glad you found us," One of the girls told Al, "I was getting squished!"

"You were squishing me more!" the other girl said indignantly.

"If you guys hid in different places you wouldn't get so squished," Al suggested, but both the girls quickly shook their heads and hugged the other.

"But I don't want to go anywhere without Emily!"

"And I wouldn't want to go anywhere without Stef!"

Al looked down at the two as old memories of him and Ed almost exactly the same words crept across his thoughts. He then looked down at the coat clutched in his hands and then looked back up in surprise.

"Brother? What is this?" he asked, looking at a small lump in the material. When he pushed it with his finger, it moved in the same direction. It almost seemed like something had been sewn into the fabric.

"Brother?!" One of the girls cried out, still holding her sister tightly.

"He's a robot too!" the other cried out.

"I knew it!"

"What is it, Al?" Ed asked as he stood up and walked over to the other side of the room, ignoring the playful shrieks from the twins. Even the exhausted Robyn got up and curiously walked over. Al held the coat out towards them and showed them the strange lump in the cloth. Robyn curiously grabbed the coat and flipped the cloth over a few times. Both sides looked like whole pieces of fabric.

"Hold this for a sec," she said, holding the coat out to Ed. Ed curiously took it and looked over it a few times as Robyn ran back upstairs. The twin girls were sitting in another corner of the basement, completely forgotten by the teenagers as they played with their Barbies again.

Robyn quickly came back downstairs, but now holding a pair of scissors in one hand. After Ed handed the jacket back to her, she carefully examined the hem nearby the lump. She then painstakingly cut a few stitches and peered between the layers of cloth.

"It looks like paper or something," she told them, and then she carefully reached her hand in and grabbed onto the mysterious lump and pulled it out firmly. It was paper, like she said, but it was a rather thick envelope with the name "Edward Elric" hastily scrawled on the front.

"Open it," Robyn said excitedly, holding the envelope out to Ed. He cautiously took the envelope from her and then slowly slid his finger under the flap and then across. Al and Robyn both leaned excitedly forward as Ed pulled out a rather large vial filled with blue liquid, a small vial filled with red liquid and a piece of folded lined paper. Ed handed the two vials to Al and then unfolded the paper.

_These will take you and Al back home. First you have to spread the blue liquid evenly over Al, and then you should drink the red liquid. That's it. I'm warning you, don't try anything fancy or it could end up bad. Hell, don't even try anything simple. Just testing it for poisons could set off some other kind of poison in it. I know it's safe. Trust me. _

_-Edward Elric_

Ed stared at the paper in amazement as Robyn finished reading the note over his shoulder. He knew that it was his handwriting, but it could have easily been the work of a forger. Could he actually believe that this was a letter from himself back when he had memory?

"Bloody hell," Robyn muttered softly as she finished reading the note. "How do we know if it's real or not?"

"I don't, I-" Ed said, but then suddenly stopped. Robyn looked at him expectantly and he continued, "No. I _do _know it's real. Putting it inside my coat is just the sort of thing I would do. And it says "I'm warning you" too," Ed continued. "I didn't give myself any orders because I knew I would disobey any orders even if I thought they were from me."

"Wow," Robyn said slowly. "You know, everything up until now has been a little weird, but this is just…" she looked over at Ed. "So you really think it will work?" she asked, and after a moment of silence, Ed nodded. "So you're going to go?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah," Ed murmured thoughtfully. He looked back up at her to see that Robyn actually looked like she was about to cry. "Please Robyn," Ed said softly, "Please don't cry. We-" Ed stopped the sentence in the middle as he tried to think. What could he possibly say that would be both true and comforting to Robyn? It didn't seem like there was anything.

"I never taught you how to make cinnamon chip cookies, Al," Robyn choked out, and Al cocked his head. "I was going to teach you how to make them in exchange for the alchemy lessons, remember?" Robyn stubbornly sniffled without letting a single tear spill and then continued, "I'll go get the recipe for you. As a little something to remember me by." Robyn turned and quickly went up the stairs. Ed indecisively looked between her and Al, and then ran up after her, the note still clutched in his hand.

Robyn walked into the living room, and seeing all the adults sitting and talking there, she went through to the kitchen instead of out the front door. Ed barely caught her wrist before she slipped out the back door in the kitchen. Robyn turned around and looked at him in surprise.

"What about me?" Ed demanded, and after seeing Robyn's hurt and confused face, he quickly softened his voice and explained, "Al gets something to remember you by, but what about me? The last time I switched between these worlds I lost all my memory, and-" Ed paused for a minute and took a deep breath to calm himself, and then continued, "I don't want to forget you, Robyn," he said slowly. "And if I do lose all my memory, I want to be sure I'll have something to try and help me remember."

Robyn silently looked at him, and then walked back in the kitchen with a sigh. Ed watched as she carefully rummaged around in one of the drawers and after pulling something out, sat down on the floor. Ed cautiously walked up and sat down in front of her.

"Give me your left hand, Ed," Robyn murmured softly. Ed cautiously pulled off the glove on his left hand and held it out to Robyn, but then suddenly jerked away when he saw what she had pulled out of the drawer. A knife.

"I won't hurt you, Ed," Robyn assured him softly. "Please, just trust me." Ed sighed and then slowly held out his hand to her again. Robyn firmly grasped his wrist and then quickly pricked his pointer finger with the knife. Ed quickly sucked in breath through his teeth as Robyn pricked her own finger with the same knife. She then quickly reached over hand grabbed his finger again, and pushed her pointer finger firmly against his. Ed could feel the warm blood sliding between their fingers.

"Now you'll always have a piece of me with you no matter what," Robyn said slowly. She took her eyes off their fingers and locked her eyes with Ed's. They stared at each other for a minute, and then Robyn got up silently and walked out the door. Ed quickly pulled himself off the floor, ran some water over the bloody knife and then followed after her.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Robyn walked at a brisk pace around the house as she felt warm tears sliding down her face. She had always known that Ed would have to leave sooner or later, but it still hurt all the same. First her mother had left, then Luke, then Kari, and now Ed and Al. Who could she possibly depend on next? She didn't even know how she would survive without the Elrics next door.

She felt a cough force its way past her lips, and she unconsciously held her hand up to cover her mouth, spreading blood all over her upper lip. He couldn't go, he just couldn't, she thought as she wiped at the tear falling down her cheek, spreading even more blood. But she didn't care. She didn't even know where to pick up her life again now. She had grown too attached to Ed and Al.

"Dammit Robyn," she muttered under her breath with another cough. It sure was cold out for Thanksgiving. "Didn't you know that anyone who gets attached to the Elrics ends up getting hurt?"

Yes, she realized. She had known it the whole time. But she just kept pushing the thought to the back of her mind because she didn't want to think about it. She had just wanted the easy choice, and of course, making friends with the pretty blond boy next door seemed like the easy choice.

She coughed again. She should have brought a coat. A sleeveless dress outside in snow was definitely not warm enough. Al would be worried about her, she thought with a bitter laugh. Would he still be worried about what happened to her years from now when their lives were back to normal? Would he possibly remember her when he had his body back?

But would Ed remember her? After all, that was who she really wanted to remember her. After all, Ed had so many girls that swooned at the sight of him, so many different girls competing for his attention. She could easily list off a bunch of minor characters that Ed and Al had been friends with on their journey.

But she was different, wasn't she? She wasn't a minor character, was she? They'd taught alchemy to her, and she and Ed could easily spend a whole gym class running and talking. They were a trio, a threesome. But she-

She stopped suddenly as a sudden coughing fit came over her. She felt like she could barely breathe, as if her lungs were shriving up into tiny pink raisins. She could feel her feet stumbling beneath her, but her eyes had closed so she wasn't quite sure where she was going, but she just kept going, going, going…

A sudden pain hit her in the side, and she could hear a voice cry out her name, but that all quickly disappeared.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

"ROBYN!" Ed cried out in alarm as he watched her stumble out into the street. It seemed like she had lost all control of her body when that coughing fit had hit her. Why couldn't she have worn a coat?

He watched in horror as a car plowed down the dark street and knocked her small body to the ground. He was barely aware of the driver getting out of the car and kneeling next to her as he ran through the powdery snow to her side. The family had heard it from the living room and all of them were rushing out into the cold to try and help.

"Just call an ambulance!" Ed yelled at them. One of them took out his cell phone, but Ed was too worried about Robyn to care. He kept running and sliding through the snow, his eyes locked on her. She seemed so far away.

Suddenly, Ed felt his knees give out beneath him and he collapsed onto the sidewalk. He was so close he could almost reach out and touch her, but he didn't have any control over his body now. He'd finally had a traumatic enough experience to get all his memory back.

Ed distantly felt his body fall and start twitching violently as every single memory he had forgotten came flooding back into his brain. His exam to become a State Alchemist, getting his automail limbs, watching Al vanish before his very eyes while his own leg disappeared, his mother's smile…

No. He tried to swat them all away like annoying flies. He could sort through all his memories later. Right now all that mattered was Robyn. He had to help her, somehow.

But the memories wouldn't listen. He felt his body continue to shake uncontrollably, the snow beneath him cold and wet. Someone was bending over him, worried about him.

"Help… Robyn…" Ed croaked out. How could he let this happen? Robyn… He needed to help Robyn… Quickly…

But she was so far away…

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

No, it's not over yet! Believe it or not, this is not even the end of part two! But yes, I'm sorry to all of you for doing that and ending it there, and I hate to say it, but I'm actually excited about the next chapter. All the secrets of the universe will be revealed! O.O Well actually, just the secrets of this story… I will post quickly! Hopefully we can finish part one soon! That is, if I don't keep getting distracted… (Glares at homework) I blame you!


	18. Memories

Hi there all you lovely, lovely readers! Are you ready for another chapter? I can't hear you! I said, ARE YOU READY? Don't know why a felt like doing that, but I did. Anybody out there hate me for leaving you all with a cliffhanger like that? (Ed raises hand) See, I knew there'd be at least one! Well, do not worry, because now I am posting!! Haha! The tides have turned!

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Eighteen – Memories

Ed walked briskly through the streets of Goarhausen, with Al plowing through the crowd behind him. It wasn't extremely crowded, but it was Saturday morning, and Goarhausen was a rather well populated city. Al pushed himself through a few more people to get close enough to his brother to touch his shoulder. He might have had a huge spiky metal body, but he was still scared of getting lost in the crowd like other kids were.

"What's exactly is in this package anyway, Brother?" he asked slowly. Ed looked back at him for a minute and then quickly turned back around to make sure he didn't trip on anyone.

"Itching powder," he told Al simply and then added under his breath, "That bastard colonel won't know what hit him." He would know not to call Ed a pipsqueak after this. Just a little bit of this in his clothes and he would be itching and scratching all day long. Even in front of any girls he might want to impress.

Ed quickly walked through the doors of the Post Office with Al in tow. They walked up to a desk with a teller behind it, who looked up from his paperwork as they approached.

"Edward Elric," Ed told the man curtly, holding up his silver watch for identification. "I have a package here?"

"Yes sir," the man said with a slight bow before running off to get the package. Somehow, things always got done for you more quickly when you were a state alchemist with a huge suit of armor always at your side.

"Brother are you sure that itching powder is the best way to-?" Al asked slowly. Ed turned around and looked at his brother with a slight grin still on his face.

"What, you don't like it?" he asked innocently.

"No, it's not that," Al said quickly. "It just that-" He was interrupted by the teller coming back and placing a reasonably sized package onto the counter. Ed looked at it eagerly, then clapped his hands together and placed them both securely on the package. The tape sealing the package shut fell to the counter with a slight crinkle. He then eagerly tore into the box, throwing any paper used for packaging off to the side.

Then Ed's face fell when he saw that instead of his long-awaited itching powder, the package contained two small vials with red liquid and two larger ones filled with blue liquid. Ed pulled them out and held them up to the light, trying to figure out just what they were. One red vial and one blue vial were both labeled carefully with the word "departure."

Ed looked back into the box for any kind of clue and noticed a plain white envelope into the bottom of the box. He handed the vials to Al then reached in and pulled out the note. After a moment of carefully examining the note, Ed slowly peeled it open.

I'm sure that by now your curiosity is adequate. Come to the docks at 9:30 PM this Saturday if you want to know the meaning behind these potions. Be warned: Not showing up could lead to knowledge of your brother's "little secret" getting out. 

Ed could feel the hairs on the back of his neck prickling. Just who did this guy think he was? And did he actually know about Al, or was he bluffing? Everybody had some kind of secret, after all.

But still… Better to be safe than sorry. Saturday. That was tonight. They had plenty of time to find out where they would need to go before 9:30 tonight.

"Well, Al," Ed said, turning around to look at his brother. "I guess we're going to the docks tonight." Ed could feel a slight smirk tugging at the edges of his lips. Even though he knew he should be happy when Al's life could be at stake, he couldn't help but feel a little excited at the prospect of danger.

Who knew where this would lead them next?

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Ed stood silently behind Robert and Sherry in the hospital, observing all the different machines around him. It was surprising how they could be a completely natural and accepted part of life one minute, and the next they seemed too amazing to possibly be real. If fact, this couldn't be real, Ed thought silently to himself. He would probably wake up in a few minutes on the train with Al sitting in the seat across from him. And then he would quickly forget about Robyn and America and all these crazy machines. This had to be the product of one too many spicy sausages before sleeping. It _had_ to be. There was no possible way someone could break the barriers of time, because if there were, he would have four normal limbs, and Al would be able to do the simple act of smiling.

"Hello, you're Mr. and Mrs. Elliott, right?" asked a nurse in a clean white uniform as she walked up. Robert and Sherry both nodded their heads silently. "And the girl was in your care when she was in the accident?"

"Yes," Sherry told her slowly. "Her father is away on a business trip until tomorrow afternoon." The nurse nodded and wrote something down on the clipboard at her waist.

"And who is the boy?" she asked, motioning at Ed with her pen. Ed scowled and folded his arms. He did not appreciate being referred to as "the boy."

"This is our foster son, Edward," Sherry explained to the nurse.

"He and this girl weren't dating, were they?" the nurse asked, and Ed felt his face flush. What right did she have asking about _that?_

"No," Ed said quickly. Maybe just a little _too_ quickly, because the nurse looked at him critically and then turned back to Sherry.

"Or just having casual sex?" she added in a hushed whisper.

"What does any of this have to do with Robyn?" Ed asked loudly. "I don't know what business you have here, lady, but we didn't have sex, okay? But Robyn was in a _car crash,_ which – last I heard – has nothing to do with sex!"

The nurse looked at him skeptically and said, "The car crash didn't affect her badly. She has a little internal bleeding, but nothing her body can't handle. The reason I'm asking about all this is that when we ran a few normal tests over her body, we found a virus. None of the doctors here had ever seen or heard of it, so we would normally be sending her to a more technically advanced hospital-" Ed could feel his spirits sink as the nurse said that. Robyn was going to be off in some other state where he and Al wouldn't be able to see her. But that was good, right? He and Al had to get home quickly. Who knew what could have happened while they were gone.

"But any changes in her environment could make her unstable," the nurse finished. "So doctors are coming over here with some equipment. It's a huge ordeal. Everyone's worried that we've found the next Black Plague."

"Is it really that deadly?" Ed asked softly, his hands slowly balling into fists. Dammit! Of all the people who had to get some weird new virus, why did it have to be Robyn?

"Yes," the nurse said slowly, but then quickly added, "But don't you worry about your friend, she'll be all right."

"I thought you said it was the next Black Plague," Ed said darkly, now looking down at the floor.

"Well, people thought that West Nile Virus would wipe out the planet, but we're still here, aren't we?" the nurse asked. "Come on, I'll show you. She's fine,' the nurse assured him and then led them down a hall. "This virus seems to be a combination of other different diseases. That's why I was asking those questions earlier. It seems to enter the body in the same way the HIV virus does – through sexual intercourse or blood mixing together." Ed stopped walking dead in his tracks.

"Holy shit," he muttered under his breath. The nurse stopped and looked back at him, along with Sherry and Robert. "We didn't have sex, but our blood mixed," Ed said softly, more to himself than the benefit of the people in front of him. "She got a cut on her finger, and I-" he stopped slowly as he thoughtfully rubbed his pointer finger with his gloved thumb.

But how had he gotten some weird disease into his bloodstream? And even if that was true, then why wasn't he having the same symptoms as Robyn, if not even worse by now?

"No freakin' way," Ed exhaled under his breath. "That bastard."

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Ed and Al walked side by side through the darkness, Al's footsteps echoing dully off the wood of the docks. The docks of Goarhausen were actually mainly used for fishermen's boats rather than trading vessels, considering that Goarhausen was on a lake instead of by the ocean.

Ed looked suspiciously around him, unnerved by the stillness that engulfed the docks. It was 9:30, so where was the guy who had sent the mysterious note? It was way too silent. Something was going on.

"Al, be on your guard," Ed muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "I don't know what's going on, but something seems-" he was cut off by the sudden clang of someone attacking Al. Ed spun around just in time to see Al's head drop to the docks, the metal ringing loudly through the unnatural silence.

"Al!" Ed cried out just as the strange attacker slapped something onto the back of Al's blood rune. Al immediately stopped any movement and stood frozen on the spot. "What did you do?!" Ed cried out in horror, clapping his hands together and turning his automail arm into a blade.

"Calm down, Mr. Elric," a melodic voice said from behind him. Ed whirled around to stare angrily at the man in the white suit emerging from the darkness. He had short cropped hair, and a small black goatee. Something about him seemed familiar to Ed. "Your brother is fine. It's just a soundproof container placed around your his blood rune. So he can't hear what we're saying, and you can't hear what he's saying. Almost equivalent to knocking him out."

"You bastard," Ed muttered under his breath. "What do you want?"

"I want to have a little chat with you, Edward," the man said coolly. "I understand that you want the Philosopher's Stone, correct?" Ed was silent, but the man didn't seem to notice and continued, "Those potions I sent you will take you to a woman who will be able to create the Philosopher's Stone – without killing anybody."

"How do you know all this?" Ed asked suspiciously, taking a few tiny steps towards the man.

"Because…She was my girlfriend," the man said slowly, and then continued, "Elizabeth and I had more love for each other than anyone else in this world, but then that _Davenport_ stole her away from me. He blinded my beautiful Elizabeth until she didn't see the love I had for her. He was a chemist – like myself – and he worked for months to make a potion to take them away to another world, away from me. He didn't want to let me uncover Elizabeth's eyes again, to make her see what he had done to her."

"So this…Elizabeth…She can make a Philosopher's Stone without killing anybody?" Ed asked slowly. "But…How?"

The man smirked at Ed. "It's amazing what geniuses come out of the Mustang family, isn't it?" He asked slowly. After no response from Ed, he continued, "The same steady hand as Hawkeye and the same alchemical skill as Mustang himself. The only children I would expect more out of would be yours."

"Mustang…and Hawkeye…" Ed said thoughtfully as he processed the information the man had just said. "But that can't be possible! Roy and Riza aren't even dating, much less having _kids_ together!"

"Not yet, at least," the man said with a knowing smirk. "But they will soon enough." Noticing Ed bewildered expression, he explained, "I used a potion to take me back in time. I wanted you to do this, since you tow are looking for the Philosopher's Stone. We can help each other, Edward."

"But…that's not possible!" Ed cried out in alarm, staring at the man with a new expression.

"Ah, then how am I here?" the man asked, leaning in close to Ed's face. He then walked around Ed. "Use the two potions labeled 'departure' to leave. The blue for your brother and red for you. Spread it evenly over his armor. Your brother's soundproof box will disappear as soon as _you_ say his name. The choice is yours, Edward," he called over his shoulder as he and his assistant disappeared into the darkness. Ed looked up at Al to see the small black box sticking up off his back like some kind of parasite.

He wasn't used to dealing with people like this. Chemistry? Most people in Amestris considered it to be a dead science, not anywhere near as useful as Alchemy. Who wanted to mess with potions when most of the time you could just draw a circle and get the same thing, only quicker? Ed thoughtfully stuck his hands in his pockets, feeling the cool glass of the potions. Could he trust this man to not have poisoned them?

This was going to be one of the biggest gambles of his life.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Ed sat silently in the chair by Robyn's bed. He had been through hours of testing to see how bad his version of the mysterious new disease was. The whole time he tried to tell them that he was just a carrier, and that it was specifically programmed to target Robyn's DNA.

Well, her mother's DNA.

And they finally agreed with him, after completely exhausting him from blood test and physicals. They even agreed that he was right about the disease being programmed to Robyn specifically, although they did wonder how he knew that. Ed didn't give a damn. He just hoped that they would find a cure for her disease.

But then they had gone and told Robyn about the whole thing. She had been fine up until she had heard that she could die if they didn't find a cure quickly. It was an awful disease, according to the doctors. They had figured out that the virus was slowly targeting all of Robyn's different organs and tissues. It would slowly "eat away" at one organ until it was completely gone, and then move on to the next one.

And first on the list were her lungs. Which actually explained why she had been coughing so much.

Right now Robyn was wide awake next to Ed, but she just continued to stare silently at the ceiling with wide unblinking eyes. She had been like that ever since the nurses had told her about her disease. Ed looked at her sadly. She didn't even seem like the same Robyn he had known anymore.

'Sir?" a nurse said cautiously, poking her head in the room. "Visiting hours are going to be over in about five minutes." Ed nodded and stood up, stretching his sore limbs. He then bet down next to Robyn, trying to ignore the vacant expression on her face.

"Uh…Robyn?" he said slowly, unsure of just what to say. "I'm going to have to go soon…so…" he stopped as a cough came from Robyn. He then watched in amazement as she turned her head and looked at him – the first movement he had seen her do since she had been put in the hospital.

"Ed?" she said slowly, taking care in her words. "Am I really going to die?"

"No," Ed assured her firmly. "You're not going to die. You hear me, Robyn? You're going to be just fine. Just wait. In a few weeks this will just be a big mess in the past." Robyn smiled slightly and settled back into her pillow.

Ed sighed and walked out the door, leaving her in the care of the nurses for the rest of the night.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Okay if the thing with Al and the soundproof box seemed a little confusing to some of you, I'm going to do my best to explain it now. Some of you might be thinking, "Hey! Robyn and Ed looked at Al's blood rune before that box-thingy disappeared, and they didn't see anything! What's up with that?" Well, the goon put the box on the _back _of Al, and Al was in a corner when Ed showed him to Robyn, so therefore, neither of them saw the _back _of Al. That is, until he stared moving and the box-thingy was gone. Now some of you might wonder how the box-thingy works on the back of Al when his blood rune is on the front. I was sort of going with the idea that his armor is almost acting like veins in a body. Even though our heart is in one place, we still get blood through all of our body. However, this white suit guy has really done his research and created a soundproof box out of the same sort of metal Al's armor is made out of. (Probably using Chemistry, or Alchemy, or something like that) So then the "flow" of Al's soul is kind of cut off, and made into this new container that doesn't let him react with the rest of the world. (And the white suit guy also painted the box-thingy black, so Al can't see a thing either) So that's my long-winded explanation about the box-thingy for anyone who might have been confused. And also – White suit man really does exist in the manga. Look carefully in the crowds and you might see him. I got the idea from the manga profile book – it points him out on page 52. Phew. Loooong author's note this time!


	19. Ed's a Poet and He Didn't Even Know It!

Hee hee. We roasted Peeps over the oven and then made them into s'mores… That was fun… and tasty! I want to finish part one… Ergh! My brain's a little dead today… After all, I did just post chapter 18 this morning. And speaking of which, has this been a heavy posting session or what? I'm hoping that all this posting will get me off the hook for a bit and let me take a break? No? I was afraid you'd say that…

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Nineteen – Ed's a poet! (And he didn't even know it!)

Robyn stared up at the white ceiling of the hospital. The whole place smelled funny, like hospitals always did. And her room was especially clean, since no one wanted to take any chances with her safety. Annoying as hell, really.

"Here," a kind voice said above her, and Robyn looked over to the side to see Al putting a plate of cinnamon chip cookies on the table next to her bed. "Brother found the recipe in the kitchen last night," he explained as Robyn tried to push herself into a sitting position. "I worked really hard to make them exactly like your recipe said. Brother even helped a little."

"Oh really?" Robyn asked with a wide grin. "I didn't know Ed had a talent for baking. What did he do?"

"Well, he mostly just ate them once they were done cooking," Al explained to Robyn and then added, "But he also tasted the batter for me to see if it was any good." He didn't add 'since I couldn't,' but Robyn could practically feel it hanging off at the end of the sentence. She then looked over Al thoughtfully.

"Since when do they let people in armor into hospitals?" Robyn said slowly. "Aren't they afraid you might blow the place up or something?"

"Well," Al said slowly, nervously scratching the back of his head. "They wouldn't let me in at first, but when Brother said we were coming to visit you, they just let us go."

"They want to let a dying girl have her fun," Robyn said with a slight snort.

"Look who's finally up," She heard from the doorway. Robyn looked over to see Ed standing there with a small Styrofoam bowl in his hand. "I already told you Robyn; you're not going to die," he said determinedly. "I think I've just about figured out this disease."

"And a good morning to you too, Sunshine," Robyn said with a small laugh. She stretched to try and see what was in the Styrofoam bowl as Ed walked over and stood next to her bed. "What's that? Chicken soup?" She asked, peering curiously over his shoulder. "Closest thing they have to stew, huh?"

"For you information, I got this for you," Ed said stubbornly, putting the soup on the table next to Al's cookies. "You need to make sure you get lots of nutrients while you're in here."

"Then why didn't you get me a glass of milk?" Robyn asked with a smile.

"Why the hell would you want that crap?!?!"

"Um…I'm going to go," Al said slowly, inching towards the door.

"Because it has plenty of nutrients in it for a strong body and mind," Robyn told Ed, thinking that she was probably just quoting some old commercial she had seen.

"And you're starting to sound exactly like Armstrong!" Ed yelled back. Robyn opened her mouth to shout back a rebuttal, but then cocked her head to one side.

"I…I didn't show you any episodes with Armstrong yet," she said slowly. Ed felt his whole body stiffen as he realized what he just said. "You got your memory back, didn't you?" Robyn asked with a hint of a sad smile dancing across her lips.

"Yeah," Ed breathed, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up at the ceiling. "And a hell of a lot of good it did me now. If I could have just remembered a little bit earlier then I would have remembered that bastard and-"

"What on earth are you talking about Ed?" Robyn asked, looking at him curiously. Ed jerked himself out of his thoughts and looked back at her.

"Nothing," he said quickly. Robyn's eyes narrowed for a second or two, but then she looked thoughtfully at Ed. He could tell that she was trying to figure something out. She looked kind of cute like that, with her eyebrows bunched together, and her eyes-

No! Ed shook his head from side to side, trying to clear out any thoughts of how Robyn looked. He knew he couldn't get attached to her any more than he already was, especially now that he and Al would be leaving soon, but sometimes he just couldn't help it. Bt he knew he could do it. He just had to treat her like he would treat any other girl. But he'd already tried that a few times, and he knew that it was _hard. _Even harder than the state alchemy test. Because she _wasn't_ like other girls.

And she was at the same time. Ed had known ever since Winry had gotten…well, _curvier,_ that girls' bodies were different than boys' bodies. And Robyn had the same hormones that other girls had that made her hips wider, her chest bigger… Ed pulled out of his thoughts as he realized that he was blushing. So maybe she didn't have quite as much as Winry, but she did have _something._ She was a girl, after all. Maybe it would be a little more noticeable if she stopped wearing boys' clothing all the time.

"So now can you tell me why you got long hair?" Robyn asked, and Ed silently rejoiced for something to distract himself with.

"I could," was the stubborn reply. The two of them sat in silence for a while before Robyn realized that just because he _could _tell her didn't mean he was going to.

"_Please_ tell me!" Robyn pleaded, and Ed let out an exasperated sigh. After a minute or so he looked back up at Robyn.

"Fine," he said slowly, and then paused for a moment to consider his words. "Our mom always used to say that she didn't want us to run into any trees because our hair wouldn't let us see where we were going. So she used to always cut our hair when it got to long, and…" he paused, sighed, and looked back up at the ceiling. "I haven't really been able to find as good of a barber since. Okay?"

The two of them were silent for a moment, and then Robyn's face broke into a wide grin. "Awwww!" she cooed, and Ed's cheeks turned bright red.

"Shut up!" he yelled, not enjoying the embarrassment.

"But that's so cute, Ed!" Robyn protested.

"And _that's_ why I didn't want to tell you!"

Robyn smiled again, only this time more gently than before. She put up both her hands and assured him, "Okay, okay, I'll st-" She cut off her sentence as a sudden pain hit her, making her fall backwards on the bed and writhe in agony.

Ed looked at her worriedly. He had seen this happen once before, but Robyn had been unconscious and the attack hadn't been nearly as bad. The doctors had said that it was her body reacting to an attack from the virus. Beads of sweat started sliding down the side of Robyn's face, and Ed slowly sat down on the bed next to her.

"Robyn? Robyn, come on, you'll be all right. Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. Just hang on," he said, and then he reached out and started stroking her hair and tucking it behind her ears. He could remember his mom doing that whenever he or Al had nightmares back when they were younger.

Robyn tossed her head back and forth a few times, letting a few moans escape from her lips. With Ed still trying to comfort her, she suddenly let out a scream that made all the hairs on Ed's back tingle down to the very roots. Ed desperately wanted to cover his ears as the scream continued, but he kept stroking her hair and trying to offer whatever little comfort he had. Then the attack subsided, and Robyn fell backwards into the pillows, her limbs involuntarily twitching.

Ed slowly reached over and grabbed the soup he had put on her bedside table earlier. Still looking worriedly at Robyn, he put the spoon in the soup and held it over Robyn's trembling lips.

"See? It's better now," he said slowly, looking at her closed eyelids. Her body stopped twitching at the sound of his voice, but her face still bore a pained expression. "Here, this will make you feel even better," Ed assured her and then slid the spoon in her mouth. He watched as she painstakingly swallowed it, but it went all the way down. Ed was about to start feeling slightly relieved when a nurse popped her head in the door.

"Is she all right?" the nurse asked. Ed felt anger rise to his cheeks as he thought about how she probably wanted to check in quickly so she could go back to eating off half her boyfriend's face in the hall.

"She's fine _now,"_ Ed said irritably. "She just had another attack."

"I'll go get her some medicine then," the nurse said before disappearing into the hallway again. Ed rolled his eyes and turned back to Robyn. She had stopped any moving she had been doing before, and her face actually looked a little peaceful now, but a single tear had slid down her cheek. Ed quickly grabbed the soup again and put another spoonful in her mouth.

"Robyn, please don't cry," he said desperately as she swallowed the first spoonful, and then he put another spoonful in her mouth. He then reached over with his free hand and wiped away the tear on her warm cheek. "See? It's good, huh? Mmm." Robyn swallowed the soup and then slowly moved her arms in an attempt to sit up, but Ed quickly pushed her back down.

"No Robyn," he said sternly, and then assured her, "It's okay. The doctors said before that your body would probably be in too much pain to move immediately after an attack." More soup slid thickly down Robyn's throat. "Just relax, okay?" he said softly as he kept slowly feeding the chicken soup to Robyn until it was all gone.

The plastic spoon scraped slowly across the bottom of the Styrofoam cup. "All gone," Ed whispered softly. Robyn seemed to relax and snuggle slightly deeper into the pillow, and Ed found himself smiling. "I'm proud of you Robyn," he told her, and a faint smile ran across Robyn's lips before disappearing as quickly as it came. "Do you think you can move yet?" he asked, and his question was quickly replied to with Robyn reaching up and wrapping her arms around him, her head snuggling into his chest. Ed looked down at her in surprise.

"Ed… The pain was so bad…" Robyn whispered as hot tears were pressed between her cheek and his shirt. Ed quickly wrapped both his arms around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. He always hated it whenever girls cried.

"All I wanted was for death to come quickly so I would stop hurting…" Robyn continued, and Ed held her tighter. He knew exactly how that kind of pain felt. It definitely wasn't fun. "Please Ed… Please don't let me die just because it hurts too much… Please…"

"I would never let you do that," Ed whispered into her hair. He considered kissing the top of her head for a minute or two, but then he quickly got rid of the idea and let himself be satisfied with just a hug.

"I wonder where Al went off to?" he murmured softly.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Ed and Al walked silently out of the hospital. When they had walked in that morning it had been bright, and Robyn was unconscious, now it was dark, and she was lying up in her bed wide-awake. It still amazed Ed sometimes how much could happen in one day.

"Brother, do you have homework to do?" Al asked, and Ed turned to look at his brother in amazement.

"What?" he asked, thinking that he must have heard wrong. School? There was no way he could go to school after all this.

"You should go to school tomorrow," Al said simply as they started walking down the sidewalk that would eventually lead them back to the Elliott's house

"Why?" Ed asked sourly. "I'm just going to go back to being a state alchemist soon anyway."

"Which is why you should take advantage of this opportunity while you still have the chance," Al lectured.

"Great, Robyn starts sounding like Armstong, and you start sounding like a Honda commercial," Ed muttered under his breath, softly enough so Al didn't hear. "The whole world has decided to turn into Alice in Wonderland."

"-Some of the skills they teach you at school could come in handy back home," Al continued. "And-"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Ed yelled cutting his brother off. "I'll go to school tomorrow!"

"So do you have any homework you still have to do?" Al repeated, and Ed reached into his back pocket with a grumble.

"I have to write a poem in the same style as 'The Red Wheelbarrow' for English," Ed said with a sigh as he unfolded the paper and read over it quickly.

"Brother! Do you always keep your homework in your pocket?!" Al asked with a gasp.

"What? It's very convenient," Ed said, looking up at Al innocently. Al sighed and shook his head.

"So what's the style of this wheelbarrow poem?" Al asked. Ed glanced over the papers again.

"You start with 'So much depends upon' and then describe a simple object in two-line stanzas," Ed explained, not looking up from the papers.

"Well, that should be easy," Al said slowly. He was right, Ed thought as multiple ideas started swirling through his head.

So much depends upon… a small blood rune, a stone that might not even exist, a small screw in his shoulder, a clap of the hands or a snap of the fingers… He stopped thinking as one last idea danced into his head.

"What about 'So much depends upon…'" Al started, but Ed quickly cut him off.

"I already got a good idea, Al," he said quickly. "You got a pen? I want to write it down before I forget it."

"Um…I got chalk," Al said, reaching down into the pouch around his leg and pulling out an unused piece of white chalk.

"Great," Ed said sarcastically. "Then have you got any black paper to write on?"

"No."

"Then let's hurry home," Ed said with a sigh. "I'll probably end up forgetting it anyway."

"Wait, I have an idea, Brother!" Al called, Ed turned back to look at him and Al explained, "You could write it on my arm for now. The chalk will erase off later." Ed sighed, looking slightly nervous at the idea. "What? You don't want me to read your poetry, Brother?" Al asked innocently, and Ed rolled his eyes.

"No," he said stubbornly, walking back up to his brother. "Give me your arm." Al held his arm down by Ed's height and held the piece of chalk out with his other hand. Ed looked up nervously at Al, and then slowly started scratching out the poem.

So much depends

Upon

A red line on a

Screen

Beeping out a

Pattern

And the technology keeping her

Alive.

Al slowly read over the last line of the poem as Ed carefully scratched it out, and then looked back up at his brother, who seemed to have a slight hint of a blush staining his cheeks.

"Aw, Brother, that's soo sweet!" Al cooed, and Ed looked up at him angrily.

"How come everything I say nowadays is considered cute?!" he demanded angrily.

"I didn't say cute, I said sweet," Al replied, but Ed was already storming down the sidewalk.

"They're the same thing!" he called over his shoulder. "Forget it! I'll write about how so much depends on whether I have enough money in my pocket for a Hershey's bar!" Al sighed and followed after him.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Ha! I finished another chapter! Pbbt! And yes, that really was an assignment for my English class. (Although we had to turn in for different poems DX) And I really did turn in Ed's poem. My teacher wrote "Interesting topic" next to it. XD Probably thinks I have issues with my family at home or something, 'Cuz my other poems were about writing and stuff like that. And another FMA poem, but it sounded like some kid colored on his brother, or something like that. (So much depends upon a few inky words… Sigh. I have no life.) ANYwho, "The Red Wheelbarrow" was written by William Carlos Willams. Me no own. See you next chap! a


	20. Fading Fast

I had a weird thing happen today. I walked home from school today with Roy in one hand and Robyn in the other. Confused? I'll explain. I play the viola, so back a few years ago when we bought a viola, my dad said I had to name it or it'd be bad luck. At the time, I had no idea what to name it. Then I was introduced to Fullmetal Alchemist, and found that the name "Roy" seemed to fit my viola perfectly. (Not because I _love _Roy, or think he's adorable - it really does fit well) And Beth and I are working on a silhouette poster for German. Since we were being silly, and we were already tracing it onto purple paper, we named the silhouette Robyn. So I had to walk home from school today with Roy in one hand and Robyn in the other. Roy made my hand fall asleep… XD

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Twenty – Fading fast

"Brother, I think we need to talk," Al said softly, glancing over at the sleeping Robyn. She had all sorts of wires connected to her, reminding Al a little too vividly of when Ed had gotten his automail. Even so, Robyn looked very peaceful in her sleep.

Ed jerked his head out of his hand and looked up at Al groggily. He was having more and more trouble staying awake. His schedule was currently packed. In the morning he went reluctantly to school, only because Al wanted him to, and then right after school he came to the hospital to visit Robyn. Sometimes Al or Robyn would tell him to do his homework, and sometimes they even helped a little, but most of the time Ed did his homework in the morning before school.

Once visiting hours were over at the hospital, Ed would then go to the Elliotts' house (After he got his memory back, he never called it 'home' again) and study ways to try and cure Robyn's disease until late in the night when he fell asleep on top of his own notes. It went the same way day after day, except on the weekends, when he spent the time he normally spent at school with Robyn instead.

Her father had come back and visited her when he could, but it wasn't very often, since the hospital visiting hours and his work hours rarely ever worked together except on weekends. Ed could tell every time he saw the man that he was hurting deep inside at the thought of losing the only family he had left, but it was his daughter, dammit! Couldn't he take a little time off to spend with his own daughter?

Robyn had lost quite a few organs by now, and it only made Ed rush his research even more, because he knew that even if something miraculously cured her, she wouldn't be able to regain the organs she had all ready lost. First she lost her lungs, (she now had a machine breathing for her) and then a few things that weren't as important, her appendix, her finger and toenails, and then her reproduction system.

"Well, no more PMS," Robyn had joked when the nurses had told her, but Ed saw the shimmer in her eyes that told him how she really felt. She was hurt. Ed knew that. Any woman felt some pang of regret if she lost her ability to have children before she had any.

And then Ed had run out of the room, pretending to be disgusted by what she had just said, but in reality he was giving her some alone time. Girls always seemed to like that sort of stuff, especially when they had a lot of stuff to think about.

"What do you want to talk about, Al?" Ed asked wearily, knowing that the dark circles under his eyes showed up all too well in the light of the hospital. Al was worried about him. Ed was used to that by now though. After years of having no family but each other, they made sure that they worried about the other, maybe sometimes a little more than they should.

"How _did _we get here Brother?" Al asked as Robyn muttered something incomprehensible in her sleep and rolled over. Ed quickly reached over to make sure that all the multiple wires connected to her were still in the right place. He sighed as she then reached over and grabbed his wrist, finding some comfort in the familiar smooth metal.

"It's a long story Al," Ed sighed as he looked at the soft skin of Robyn's face. "To put it simply, some guy tricked us here so we could kill Robyn's mom because she broke his heart." Al cocked his head, so Ed tried to explain again with a slight roll to his eyes. "You know…" he said slowly, fishing for the right words, "That sick idea that some people get that makes them all 'If I can't have her, then nobody can.' You know what I'm talking about Al?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Al said slowly, but Ed knew that there were still other things on his mind. "So why don't I remember?"

"You were sort of…unconscious, in a way," Ed said slowly. "That guy was really smart. Somehow, he figured out a way to…trap you until I said your name." he looked up at Al with a faint trace of a smile on his lips. "Any other questions?"

Al shook his head and watched as he turned his attention back to the sleeping girl on the bed. Ed carefully took his other hand – the real, flesh one that Robyn wasn't desperately clinging to – and used it to push her sweaty hair out of her eyes. Ed was being so… nice, Al realized with a slight surprise. He had all his memory back, and for once Al hadn't needed to restrain him, remind him to be polite, or any of the other usual stuff he had to do around his brother. And he had some expression on his face that Al could faintly remember seeing him have a long time ago, but not for years.

"Penny for your thoughts, Brother," Al said jerking Ed out of his reverie to look at him. Once again, Al marveled at the strange new look to Ed's face. He wanted to know what Ed was thinking to make him look like that. He desperately wanted to remember when he had last seen his brother wear that expression.

"It's nothing Al," Ed murmured softly and then turned back to Robyn. Al watched enviously as his golden eyes swept over the pale figure, and saw him squeeze her hand gently. This wasn't fair! Al was supposed to be the only one he looked at like that! After all, he was his younger brother, the one he had sacrificed his arm for to make sure he was okay! Al was the only one that Ed was allowed to treat like that!

No, Al told himself, shaking the thoughts out of his head. Thinking thoughts like that was mean-spirited and selfish. If his brother wanted to treat more people nicely, then good for him, right? That meant that Al didn't have to keep him on as tight of a leash. Al knew that his brother was a wonderful person, and he had always wanted other people to be able to see that.

"She's strong, isn't she?" Ed said softly, looking at the steady beat of her heart being projected onto the screen above her. Now Al recognized the look on his older brother's face. It was hope. "I bet if she and her brother had been studying alchemy like us, then they would have tried to bring their mom back too. Except-" Ed said slowly, and then stopped, lost in his thoughts.

"Except she's the younger one, and either wouldn't exist or wouldn't have a body if that happened," Al finished, looking down at his hand. And even if Luke had tried to bring her back, who knew if he would have been lucky enough to have something like his armor to bind Robyn's soul to. "But that didn't happen, Brother," Al added, trying to get his own thoughts out of his head. He didn't want to think about what could have happened if his armor hadn't been in the room that day.

"I'm glad," Ed said softly. "She doesn't deserve this," he added, looking down at the automail hand clutched in Robyn's pale one. "She's too good for all of this. She deserves better than the life we've chosen."

"She doesn't deserve to die!" he finished, jerking his hands away from Robyn to hold them to his aching head.

"Neither do you," Al said softly, as Robyn's hands blindly groped around to try and find Ed again. Ed glanced over at Al, and then got up and walked out of the room. Al sighed and pulled his chair in closer to Robyn's bed.

"Ed…" Robyn muttered before her reaching hands finally grabbed Al's large hand.

"Brother just needed to calm down," Al assured her, patting the back of her sweaty hand with his free one. "I just hope that he doesn't destroy anything in the process."

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Ed stormed out of the elevator, not having the slightest clue where he was going. He couldn't stand seeing Robyn like that anymore. Her tiny pale body lying on that bed with arms that looked like twigs. He wished he could just make her better. He didn't even know what he was doing wrong with his research.

"Excuse me! Sir?" Ed turned back to look at the welcoming desk he had just passed by. "You're a friend of Robyn Davenport's, right?"

_Robyn shrugged, "It's just that…we're friends, aren't we?"_

_Ed smiled, "Yeah, we're friends."_

"Yeah, we're friends," Ed repeated softly to himself, remembering that day in Chemistry months ago.

"Well, ever since her case was broadcast on TV, we've been getting a lot of flowers and stuff from people who want to wish her good luck. We would like to send them up to her room, but there's just so much stuff…"

"What kind of stuff did people send her?" Ed asked worriedly. He called Robyn his 'friend,' and he hadn't gotten her anything! People who didn't even know her were sending her stuff!

"Well, there's tons of flowers, and teddy bears and balloons…" the woman sighed, ticking things off on her fingers. Ed was already racing down the hall towards the gift shop. He had some money from the Elliotts, and he would use it to get her the same stuff her 'adoring fans' were getting her.

Ed slid into the gift shop, his shoes squeaking on the clean tile floors. There was so much _stuff._ Flowers, stuffed animals of many different species, cards, balloons, and even shirts were on sale in there. Ed looked over it all quickly, and then grabbed a poinsettia, (They were the flower for December) a very soft and cuddly teddy bear, and a band-aid shaped balloon that said the traditional "Get Well Soon" on it. The people that had seen her on TV had sent all those things, and now he had one of each, so that made him better than them, right?

No. This was stupid. He wasn't going to go running into Robyn's room with all this stuff in his arms. He put all the stuff back on the shelves and turned to go, but then he looked back one last time. He should get _something. _He'd look like a jerk if he didn't get her something.

Funny, he'd never worried about looking like a jerk before. Running around calling Mustang a bastard, his father a bastard, never listening to what people told him to do, and then catching the first train out of the city once he'd finished what he'd planned to do. People probably thought he was a real good-for-nothing bastard himself. He sighed softly and walked up to the counter.

"Um, you wouldn't happen to have any stuff with vampires, would you?" he asked. The woman at the cash register looked at him like he was insane. "That's what I thought. Um, how about pirates? No. Uh…skulls and crossbones? Rock music? Electric guitars? Maybe some black roses?"

The woman kept looking at Ed like he was crazy. "Why would you want any of that stuff for someone in the hospital?" she asked.

"Because that's what she likes!" Ed groaned, and then walked out of the shop.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

"Robyn?" Kari asked, slowly walking into the room with a bouquet of flowers cradled in her left arm. Seeing the small black haired figure on the bed, she then rushed in, putting the flowers on the nightstand next to Robyn's bed.

"Oh Robyn, I saw it on the news, and I'm so sorry," Kari said quickly. Robyn smiled weakly at her.

"It's not your fault I got this stupid disease," she assured her.

"No, not that," Kari said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry about before. I was a bitch," she said bluntly. She then turned to look at Al briefly. "I guess he really does look like Alphonse Elric," she said to Robyn. "I don't know why I couldn't see it before. And the little blond kid? You said his name was Edward, right? Where'd he go?"

"I don't know," Robyn sighed. "He went off about an hour ago to calm down. I have no clue where he went."

"So he's really your older brother?" Kari asked Al excitedly.

"Uhh…" Al said slowly, but Kari had already turned back to Robyn.

"But I don't understand," she said slowly. "How did they… well, get here?"

"We lived in Japan for a while," a voice said from the doorway, and everyone turned to see Ed standing there, holding a plastic bag in one hand. "We met Hiromu Arakawa before she wrote FMA, and she based the two main characters off of us."

"So can you speak Japanese?" Kari asked, excitedly clapping her hands together.

"Umm…" Ed mentally kicked himself. He hadn't thought that far.

"Nii-san!" Al cut in quickly, saving Ed from embarrassment. Ed looked over and smiled gratefully at his younger brother, who gave him the thumbs-up sign. Good thing Al had watched the Japanese version of the first four episodes and gleaned at least one word from them.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Kari cooed. Even Robyn managed a small smile. "They really are the Elric brothers. That's so cool!" she then turned back to look at Robyn. "I'm really sorry Robyn!" she said, holding her arms out for a hug. Robyn gratefully hugged her, glad to have her best friend back. Even though deep down she wished that Ed had told her the truth, and that she would actually believe it. Not believe it because Robyn was sick and she didn't want to upset her.

"So what's in the bag?" Robyn asked Ed when she and Kari broke apart.

"Just stuff," Ed said, putting the bad on her bed. "I thought your room was a little plain." Robyn dug curiously into the bag, and then suddenly squealed in delight.

"You brought my whole manga collection!" she cried happily, pulling out a fistful of books that included Black Cat, Fruits Basket and (of course) Fullmetal Alchemist. She quickly reached in and pulled out more and more handfuls, babbling as she looked at the familiar titles. "I wouldn't even like Fruits Basket if it weren't for Kari here. Normally that kind of thing is too girly for me, but-Oh," she stopped suddenly, pulling out something other than books. It was the old picture of her and Luke that she had thrown at Ed once, except Ed had put in a new pane of glass.

"Thank you," she said softly, putting it on the last clear spot on her nightstand. Still feeling some weight in the bag, she reached in again and pulled out a brand new sketchbook along with a handful of drawings from her door.

"Ed…I…" she said softly, looking up at him.

"I hope you don't mind that I totally cleaned off your door," Ed said, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Naw, it will brighten this place up," Robyn said with a smile, and Ed smiled back. "Besides, I can hang them back up again. But don't tell me how you managed to get in my house to get them in the first place. I don't want to know," she said, making Ed blush slightly.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving," Kari said with a smile. "You wouldn't mind if I took them out for lunch, would you Robbie?"

"No," Robyn said with a smile, flipping through the familiar pages of her manga. "You guys have fun."

"Wait, I…" Ed protested, but his pleas were quickly lost as Kari dragged out the door. Al looked uncertainly between Kari and Robyn, and then quickly hurried after his brother. Robyn smiled to herself and turned the page. But it quickly faded away as a nurse holding a needle walked into her room.

"It's time for a little painkiller," the nurse said, ignoring the sweat pouring down Robyn's face.

"HELL NO! GET AWAY FROM ME, LADY! I HATE NEEDLES! FORGET THE PAINKILLERS! I'LL TOUGH IT OUT!" Ed smiled as he heard Robyn's screams down the hall. So much for rest and relaxation for the other patients.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Well, I guess I'll cut it off there. I was originally going to make it longer and include them going to the restaurant, but I want to post this soon. And I need to go to bed soon, but I want to post this tomorrow morning, so…gah! Oh, and Kai was right. The little heartbeat line is green, not red. Maybe poor little Edo is just colorblind. Hee. Now send some reviews my way and the next chap will come out faster. No, this isn't blackmail, it's…um…negotiating. Yes, negotiating. NOW HIT THAT BUTTON! And any ideas you guys have right now are very welcome (Not that they ever weren't) since I'm a little brain-dead. But I will persevere and write the next chap!


	21. The Inevitably Mushy Chapter

Whoo, man has this been the week to end all weeks! I've pretty much had a single event every night for a whole week and I am pooped! Though of course, all my friends know about this all too, well, since I've been complaining about it practically every day. I just want the weekend to come, but that'll be busy too! This may be the one chance I have to write for a while… sigh… I'll try and make the most of it. So sorry if it's a little later than the others have been. I'm trying okay?! Shut up!

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Twenty-One – The Inevitably Mushy Chapter

Ed strode into Robyn's hospital room with a bouquet of roses clutched in his hand. So they were corny. So what? It was the most romantic flower and he was going to give a whole bouquet to Robyn, dammit!

"Ed?" Robyn said as she curiously looked up from one of her mangas. "I thought you were going out to lunch with Kari and Al." She quickly closed the book and threw it to the side, as if to tell him that it couldn't ever compare to such an awesome manga character like him.

"I'd rather spend time with you," Ed said confidently as he walked up beside her bed. He heard the romantic music they always put in movies at scenes like this start in his head as he threw the roses on Robyn's nightstand carelessly.

"The truth is, Robyn," Ed paused and took a deep breath. "I love you. And I always will, even if there are whole worlds separating us." Robyn looked up at him with wide eyes, speechless. And at the swell of the imaginary music inside his head, Ed scooped Robyn up into his arms and planted his lips on hers in a full-out kiss.

Unfortunately, at least half of Robyn's wires snapped off as he picked her up off the bed.

Ed looked around in horror as the different monitors around Robyn's bed started beeping loudly and a long stream of doctors and nurse hurried into the room. He'd killed Robyn with something as simple as a kiss? No, no no nonononono. This wasn't right. No! Hell no!

Ed shook himself out of the daydream that had gone suddenly and horribly wrong. So maybe that wasn't the best way to approach Robyn, but he couldn't think of any other ways to do it. He sighed and let the cool glass of the window soak through the skin of his forehead. He had to find some way to cure her, and quickly too.

"Virus… Chemistry… DNA…" Al sat by himself in the backseat of Kari's car and listened to his brother mumble. Ed had been doing that a lot recently.

"The virus is designed specially for her DNA, so it's not contagious," Ed muttered under his breath with his chin resting in the palm of his hand. "And since it's coded to her DNA, her body thinks it's a part of her so it won't attack the virus…" Ed trailed off, and Kari turned around in her seat to look at Al as they stopped at the intersection.

"What the hell is he talking about?" she asked as Ed started mumbling softly enough so the other two wouldn't hear him as he ticked unheard thoughts off on his fingers.

"He trying to figure out a way to get rid of Robyn's virus," Al explained with a sigh.

"She's got a panel of doctors from around the world trying to help her, and he thinks a high school kid like him can beat them all to it?" Kari sighed as she drove through the green light. "Even if he really is a genius like the Ed in FMA, I doubt that's possible."

"Wait! I got it!" Ed shouted suddenly, and Kari jumped in her seat a little. He turned back to look at Al and explained excitedly, "All this time I've been trying to find a way to _destroy_ the virus, and of course that hasn't worked because it's too simple of a solution. I got to find a way to _protect_ Robyn's organs instead! She could live with the virus inside of her as long as it isn't able to destroy any organs!"

"And just how are you going to do that?" Kari asked skeptically, keeping her eyes focused on the road.

"I don't know yet, but at least now I know _what_ to do!" Ed said excitedly, and Kari rolled her eyes. Then she suddenly clutched at the wheel as the car lurched a bit, and turned into a White Hen parking lot.

"Something feels funny. I'm gonna go check outside," she explained, opening her door and letting a blast of cold air blow through the car. As soon as the door closed again, Al leaned forward.

"Keep your right arm moving, Brother," he said softly. "We might be here a while, and you wouldn't want the gears to freeze up."

"Right," Ed agreed with a nod, and started rotating his wrist in a circle absently. He found his mind wandering to how Al was always so considerate, always thinking of the people around him before himself…

"Hey, Al? Could you help me with something?" he asked, and Al looked at him curiously.

"With what?" he asked, and Ed sighed, trying to think of something to say.

"Well…um…I was thinking that maybe we could get some flowers for Robyn, but I…uh…don't know what type to get," he stuttered.

"Aww," Al cooed, and Ed's cheeks turned red as he frowned slightly.

"Shut up!" he said stubbornly, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Keep your arm moving," Al reminded him gently, and Ed started rotating his right wrist again with a scowl. "You know Brother, it's okay if you like Robyn as more than a friend."

"What makes you think such a ridiculous thing as that?!" Ed yelled, the blush on his face deepening.

"Well, the fact that your face is as red as a tomato is a slight hint," Al said with a laugh, and Ed frowned. "It's okay either way, Brother. Really. Besides, we probably wouldn't have gotten farther than the first date even if I did have a body," Al explained. "Sometimes people can be good friends and just aren't attracted to each other romantically. It was silly of me to ask her out, really."

Ed sighed and looked up at the roof of the car. "I _do_ like her, I just don't know-" he stopped as Kari sat back in the driver's seat.

"Well, we've got a flat," she sighed, and then looked over at Ed. "I don't suppose either of you would know how to change a tire?" she said hopefully.

"Not really," Ed said absently, still lost in his thoughts about Robyn.

"Shit," Kari sighed, and then opened her door again, letting in another blast of cold air. "Well come on, we'll figure it out together." Ed groaned and opened the door on his side.

"Okay," he said slowly, observing the flat tire as he rubbed his hands together. "Well, to begin with, don't we need the thing that props up the car?" Ed asked. "And the thing that will loosen these bolt thingies on the wheel."

"Nice mechanical terms there," Kari commented. "I'll try to find 'the thing that props up the car.'"

"I'll find the thing that loosens the bolt thingies," Al said.

"Then I'll get the spare tire," Ed sighed.

An hour and forty-five minute later,**(1)** they were back on the road again, the tire finally changed, and Ed's stomach growling angrily.

"That took _forever!"_ Ed sighed, clutching at his empty stomach. "I'm starved! Where are we eating?"

"Well, I was thinking Portillio's before, but how about Old Country Buffet? You can start eating right away there," Kari said.

"And it's a buffet!" Ed said with an excited nod of his head. Kari laughed and turned the car right.

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Kari pulled the car in front of the hospital and looked over at Ed. "Tell Robyn I'll be here tomorrow," she told him. "I have to go home and do my homework or my mom will kill me. At least winter break is only a week away." Ed nodded and climbed out of the car with Al behind him. He heard the car pull away as they walked into the lobby.

"Oh good, you two are here," the woman behind the lobby desk said with a relieved sigh as she looked up to see them come in.

"Why, what's wrong?" Ed asked suspiciously as he felt a prickle of worry at the edge of his mind.

"Miss Davenport had another attack," the woman said with a sigh, and then seeing Ed's worried expression, she quickly added, "Oh, don't worry, she's fine. She's just feeling a little depressed. I suggest that you go see her right away."

Ed nodded and quickly strode to the elevator, with Al right beside him. They both silently got in the elevator and walked into Robyn's room. A small lump shaped like Robyn lay curled up on the bed, the pillow pulled up over her head. Al looked between the two, and then turned to his brother.

"I'll be right back," he said mischievously, and then turned back around and walked back out the door.

"Wait! Al!" Ed called out, but Al either didn't hear him or pretended not to. Ed sighed and muttered under his breath, "I'm not good at this sort of thing." He slowly walked over and sat in the chair next to Robyn's bed, and after a moment's consideration, slowly put a hand on her back.

Robyn heaved a shaky breath under the contact as Ed slowly started to rub his hand up and down. Ed felt shivers run down the back of his spine as he ran his hand across the area on her back where a bra strap would normally be, and instead found it as smooth as any other part on her back. But that was the way hospitals did things, he kept trying to remind himself. She couldn't wear things like bras that could get in the way of wires and such.

"What's wrong, Robyn? What happened this time?" Ed asked softly, and a small croak escaped from Robyn underneath the pillow. Ed took a deep breath, surprised at what he was going to try to say. Swell of romantic music, he reminded himself. It should be fine as long as he didn't try picking her up off the bed. And Al wasn't here to make him feel even more embarrassed, so… He took another deep breath, trying to get as much oxygen as he could.

"You know Robyn, even if this disease ended up taking both your eyes, I still think you'd be the prettiest girl I've ever met," he said slowly, and then tightly closed his eyes immediately afterwards.

"The _Prettiest?"_ Robyn hiccupped from under her pillow. "I have a hard time believing that."

"Sure you are," Ed assured her, opening his eyes again. "Even prettier than Winry," he added, which earned a small laugh from Robyn. "But don't tell her I said that," he added hastily.

"She probably break out laughing if she even heard that you gave someone a compliment," Robyn said with a hint of a laugh to her voice.

"Probably," Ed chuckled. "Now will you take the pillow off your head?"

"You won't laugh?" Robyn asked.

"No," Ed said simply, rubbing his hand in small circles on her back. Robyn's frail frame suddenly lurched beneath him as she pulled herself into a sitting position, and Ed pulled his hand away. The pillow fell into her lap as she sat up straight, and Ed saw immediately what she had lost this time. Her hair. The light from the room glinted off her shiny head as she looked down at her lap, ashamed.

"Hey," Ed said softly and grabbed both her shoulders. "You look fine. And if it bothers you, you can get a wig, right?"

"I guess," Robyn said, letting out a shaky breath. Suddenly, surprising even himself, Ed wrapped both his arms around Robyn and drew her in close to him in a tight hug.

"You know, if you want you could…um," Ed said slowly, wanting to scratch the back of his head out of habit, but also wanting to keep his hold on Robyn. "If you wanted to, you could cut my hair and have them make it into a wig for you. It would probably be a little short, but it might be cheaper…" he trailed off uncertainly.

Robyn was about to tell him no thanks, she'd rather not be a blond, when she remembered what he said earlier.

"_Our mom used to say that she didn't want us to run into any trees because our hair wouldn't let us see where we were going. So she used to always cut our hair when it got too long, and…I haven't really been able to find as good of a barber since. Okay?" _

And now here he was, offering to let her cut his hair. He didn't even let Al cut his hair. She would be the first one to cut it since his mom had died. Robyn pulled away from him slightly and looked into his eyes.

"Thanks Sunshine," she said softly. "That'd be nice."

T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E

Ed sat in the chair next to Robyn's bed, his head rested in his palm and his eyes treating to shut sleepily. After Robyn felt better from Ed's reassurances that she looked fine, she had finally fallen asleep.

Ed opened his eyes to slits and looked over at her. She was still asleep now, curled up on the edge of her bed and leaving the other half wide open. It looked all too tempting to Ed. He glanced over at the clock, wondering how much time he had left.

It was only four o'clock now. He glanced back at the bed longingly. It wasn't like she was even using that half. The long days had been taking their toll on him. School, Robyn and researching her disease was making it so he definitely wasn't getting the recommended eight hours of sleep, and Ed was normally used to getting even more than that.

"What could it hurt?" he muttered under his breath. "I'll just wake up before her and get out before she knows anything changed." And with that, he tentatively perched on the edge of the bed, and was asleep in moments.

When Robyn woke up, she could feel a nice soft fabric pressed against her cheek, but it wasn't the fabric of the sheets the hospital provided that she had grown so accustomed to. Had they changed the sheets? Well, whatever it was, it was nice, she decided as she ran her fingers over the piece by her cheek.

But then she suddenly realized that it probably wasn't sheets, considering that she could feel a hand resting on her hip.

And a rather heavy hand at that.

Robyn dared herself to open her eyes and found herself directly under a mess of familiar golden hair. She tried to figure out what had happened to get them in this position.

She could last remember falling asleep in her bed with Ed in the chair next to her. So somehow he had then fallen asleep next to her. Then, sensing the heat from his body, she must have naturally moved over to rest on his chest. And then Ed had gone to peel back the shirt covering his stomach like he always did when he was sleeping, only this time, his hand had been stopped by her hip.

Robyn sighed and snuggled deeper into his chest. Never min how it had happened, it still felt nice. He was all warm and cozy, and his navy blue hoodie was so soft. Robyn closed her eyes again and clutched a handful of fabric in her hand.

She suddenly felt Ed shift beneath her in an attempt to get up, and she quickly tried to keep him down as well as she could without moving. His hand rose off her hip in an effort to sit up, but Robyn focused all her energy on keeping him down, and soon she felt his muscles relax beneath her.

"Crap," Ed muttered, his automail hand falling back down and wrapping around her shoulders. "How am I supposed to get up now with out waking you up?" he mused as he started to absently stroke her bare head with his gloved hand.

"Please don't get up," Robyn said softly, and Ed down at her in surprise. His eyes met with Robyn's and then he smiled and held her tighter.

"Okay," he said softly, and then silence swept over the room.

"Ed, do you really want me to cut your hair?" Robyn asked finally, breaking the stillness.

"If you want to, go ahead," Ed told her softly.

"But do _you _really want me to cut you hair?" Robyn persisted. Ed reached down and gently tilted her head up to look at him.

"Listen Robyn," he said sternly. "My hair can grow back, no matter how badly you may cut it. It doesn't matter whether it gets cut or not, okay?" But Robyn could tell by the tone of his voice that it did matter, even if only a little. She sighed and snuggled back into his chest.

"Okay," she murmured into his shirt, and then silence fell over the room again.

"Ed?" Robyn said softly, after a moment's pause.

"Mmm-hmm?"

"I love you."

She felt Ed jerk at these words, and even though she wasn't looking at him, she could still feel him turn to look at her.

"What?" he asked, with a slightly surprised tone to his voice. Not angry, she noted, just surprised.

"I love you," she repeated softly, still feeling his eyes staring at the top of her head.

A moment of silence passed between them before Robyn finally felt Ed's chest heave with the words, "I love you too."

"You're not saying that just because I said it, are you?" Robyn asked uncertainly, and Ed let out a huge sigh.

"Do you really think _I _would say that if I didn't mean that?" he asked, his automail now rubbing her shoulder gently. "Really, is that the sort of thing I do?" he asked, and was rewarded with a laugh from Robyn. "I've been thinking it for a while. I just haven't had the guts to say it, okay?" he added seriously, and Robyn sighed.

"Okay," she said slowly.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Yes I know. VEEERY sappy. And kinda weird ending, while I'm at it. But I had to put it in at some point, and I did warn you with the chapter title. But HAH! It's over five pages! Nyah. So don't get mad at me. If I hadn't put in the naptime scene it would have been the average length instead. Al is very accepting though, isn't he? Maybe it's because Ed hasn't really like girls before Robyn. And now I'm turning it into Great Gatsby! Gah! That's it, I'm going to bed. G'night.


	22. Spoilsport

**Sorry if you get the alert for this twice. was being a jerky buttface and smushing the whole story together into one big paragraph.**

YAAYYY!!! Words cannot convey my emotions right now because Kairi sketched out the first two pages of The New Neighbors as a webcomic! It's so cool to see my stuff actually visualize!! Or whatever. But it's soooo coooool!!! Hee. Oh, and in last chap I put in **(1)** but I didn't actually comment on it. So what I meant to say was: **(1) **Yes, it can take that long to change _one _tire. I speak from experience. Though ours might have taken so long because the spare was also flat…

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist. **

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Twenty-Two – Spoilsport

Robyn sat on the hospital bed with a baseball cap resting on top of her bald head, making her look more like a tomboy than she had since being put in the hospital. A pair of scissors was clutched in her sweaty hands and dangling dangerously over the top of Ed's ponytail. Even though Ed had assured her multiple times that it was okay if she messed up, she still couldn't help but feel nervous.

"This can't work," Robyn murmured softly as she pulled the scissors away from Ed. He turned back to look at her.

"Sure it can," he assured her. "All have to do is push down on the handle and it will cut right through. Scissors are made to do that sort of thing."

Robyn looked back up at him with a slight smile. "Not that," she said slowly. "This. Us. What good is it to admit we love each other if we'll be in different worlds?"

Ed sighed and looked down at his palms. After a minute of silence, he slowly said, "I know it did me a lot of good. Even if we can't stay together, I can't remember I felt this good for so long. I don't even want to think about how I'd start acting if we could stay in the same world."

"You'd probably panic," Robyn laughed. "If you stayed here you'd be worried about the people you wouldn't be able to protect in Amestris, and if I went with you, you'd be worried about me." Ed smiled. "You're right though," Robyn said slowly. "I never saw you smile this often in the manga. And believe me, I looked."

"You looked?" Ed asked, his eyes widening. "What are you, some kind of stalker?"

"Maybe I was at the time," Robyn laughed. "I felt sorry for you. A teenager shouldn't have so many worries that they never smile. Hell, even I smile!" She noticed that Ed was looking at the wall, and quickly added, "But I couldn't do that now."

"Huh?" Ed looked back over at her, confused by this comment.

"I can't watch or read anything now without thinking about how that person could be real and I'm just learning everything about them," she explained. "Well, unless it's a documentary," she added. "But those aren't usually very interesting. Now turn back around. I'm going to try to cut your hair." Ed obediently turned back around, and Robyn held the scissors over his hair again.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Robyn asked suddenly after a moment of hesitation. "I mean, everybody will be talking about how it's so different al all that…"

Ed turned back to look at her. "I think you're more nervous about cutting my hair than I am," he teased, and Robyn blushed slightly. "I don't care about what people will say. I didn't grow my hair out for _them," _he said with a cocky grin, and then added seriously, "If you want, I could make the first cut, and then you could…kinda…just trim it up a bit, you know?"

"No. I don't want you to stab your neck or something just because you can't see what you're doing," Robyn said stubbornly. She held the scissors over Ed's hair for the third time, and after taking a deep breath, finally cut through. His ponytail of golden hair fell limp in her hand, and she looked down at it sadly.

"That feels weird," Ed said with a smile as he shook out his mane of hair. He looked back at Robyn, who smiled at him slightly.

"It looks weird too," she said softly, before he turned back around to let Robyn trim the rest of his hair.

After making the initial cut, Robyn found it much easier to trim the rest of Ed's hair, and soon little blond hairs were littered on the bed around Ed's back.

"Okay, I think you're done," Robyn said softly, tapping Ed on the shoulder. Ed turned around to look at her and smiled as he ran his fingers through his bangs. Robyn cocked her head as she looked back at him.

"You know, I might be a little biased since the only time I saw you with short hair was when you were a kid in the manga," she said slowly. "But I think that haircut makes you look younger. In a good way," she added quickly. "Not so… I don't know… burdened."

"Brother?!" Al said loudly as he walked into the room, and Ed looked up at him sheepishly. "What did you do to your hair?!"

"What? You don't like it?" Ed asked slyly, and Al quickly raised his hands in protest.

"No, it's not that!" Al said quickly as he shook his hands back and forth. "But… Since when do _you _have short hair?!"

"Since today," Ed said stubbornly as he crossed his arms across his chest. "And my hair used to be this short when we were kids, remember?"

"Of course I remember!" Al protested, and then suddenly sighed. "You just surprised me, that's all. It looks nice, Brother."

"Yeah, right," Ed grumbled, looking over at the wall. "You're just saying that to get me off your case."

"Geez Ed!" Robyn sighed exasperatedly. "Learn to take a compliment!"

"Huh?" Ed uncoiled a bit and looked over at Robyn.

"Your brother just said that your hair looked nice," Robyn said slowly. "The proper response would be to say, 'Thank you, Alphonse. I'm glad you think so.'"

"Umm…" Ed looked at Robyn for a moment, and then back over at Al. "Thanks Al," he muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm glad you think so," he added in an even softer voice.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Robyn said with a smile, and Ed whirled around to face her.

"Yes it was!" he yelled at her, making Robyn laugh a little. "And don't go trying to pull all that cute and innocent crap on me!" he added.

He suddenly stopped as he heard a soft click, and spun around to face Kari, who was standing in the doorway with a camera in one hand. His eyes narrowed as he continued to glare at her, and she just smiled sheepishly.

"I figured we should get some pictures while we could," she explained. "After all, it's not every day you see the Elric brothers."

"And just what exactly are you going to do with the pictures?" Ed demanded suddenly. "Sell them on Ebay? I can see it now – 'Get your picture of the _real _Elrics today! Starting bid: $50!'"

"Oh, grow up," Kari laughed. "Robbie knows I wouldn't do that, don't you Robbie?" when Robyn nodded she turned back to look at Ed and Al. "Now get over next o her so I can get a picture of all three of you."

"And what if I don't?" Ed grumbled, crossing his arms as Al sat down tentatively next to Robyn.

"Then I'll force-feed you milk," Robyn threatened, and Ed spun around to look back at her. "And you know I would, too," she added. Ed considered her for a moment, then stomped  
over and sat down on the bed with a huff.

"You're horrible," Ed muttered under his breath.

"Thanks," Robyn laughed, and then nudged him. "Smile," she whispered.

"Why?" he scowled back.

"Because if you don't cooperate, there will be hell to pay," Robyn told him. Ed snorted and looked over at her. She actually looked serious about it. He sighed and slouched down a little.

Robyn then suddenly reached over and wrapped one arm around Ed's shoulders and one around the middle of Al's back, since he was too high for her to reach his shoulders. Ed looked over at her, and she smiled at him before tuning back to face the camera. Ed shrugged his shoulders slightly and smiled as he felt Robyn's hand slide up with the movement and briefly touch the side of his neck before sliding down again.

Click!

"That was good!" Kari said happily as she rewound the camera and Ed refocused his attention back on her. Never mind Robyn's hand on his shoulder, he was going to kill Kari! But then he felt Robyn's hand gently squeeze his shoulder, and relaxed slightly. She must have felt him moving to get up.

He looked back over at Robyn. She was smiling at him happily, and then he noticed that her hand was no longer around Al as well. Just him. The gesture had moved away from something simple and friendly, especially with the way Robyn was looking at him now. And on top of that, Kari and Al were both staring at him and Robyn.

Aw, screw them. Ed sighed and wrapped an arm around Robyn's waist. He could feel her jerk slightly at the surprise of the contact, but then she relaxed again.

"Aw! I never thought Robyn would let a guy hold her like that!" Kari cooed, her hands on her cheeks.

"And I never thought Big Brother would be able to get that close to a girl without screaming!" Al said excitedly. Ed taking the first girl Al had a date with obviously didn't hurt him.

Ed and Robyn's arms both dropped simultaneously and they inched away from each other. Neither of them wanted to hear the remarks from Kari and Al.

"Oh!" Kari said suddenly, pulling out a small thin box. "I almost forgot! I brought Conqueror of Shamballa!"

"The Fullmetal Alchemist movie?" Robyn gulped. A few months ago she had been talking about it nonstop and couldn't wait to see it. But now… She glanced over at Ed and Al worriedly. She didn't want to let _them _know what happened in episode 51.

"Well, duh," Kari replied nonchalantly.

"But Kari," Robyn protested, "Ed and Al haven't seen the entire series!"

"Oh," Kari sighed. "Well, you see," she said quickly to the Elric brothers, "At the very end, Envy-"

"KARI!!" Robyn shouted, "Don't spoil it for them!"

"I wasn't going to spoil it," Kari pouted. "Just fill them in."

"There's a _movie_ about us too?" Al whispered excitedly to his brother.

"Shh," Ed hushed him, flicking his eyes between the two girls like it was a tennis match.

"Please Kari," Robyn sighed. "Can you just go get another movie from Blockbuster or something? What about the fourth Harry Potter? I don't think Ed's seen it yet."

"Actually, I have," Ed added quickly, and Kari turned to him excitedly.

"Have you read the books?" she asked, and then continued before Ed could say anything. "I LOVE them sooo much! JK Rowling's such a good author! I mean, I cried in the sixth book when Snape-"

"KARI!!!" Robyn shouted quickly.

"I'm still in the middle of the fifth book," Ed said shakily, before Kari could give away the ending. He didn't want to hear about what Snape did in the sixth book, even if he probably wouldn't have the time to read the rest of the series.

"Just go rent a different movie," Robyn told Kari. "What about Stranger Than Fiction? That one looked funny."

"That's the one where the guy finds out that he's really the character in a book, right?" Kari asked, and Robyn nodded. "Well what's the point in that if you're practically living it?" Kari sighed, motioning towards Ed and Al.

"Using that logic, what's the point in watching Conqueror of Shamballa?" Robyn countered.

"Touché," Kari sighed. "Okay, truce. What about Howl's Moving Castle? I still haven't seen that. I go drop this back off at my house and stop at Blockbuster on the way back," she said, flipping the disc in the air. Robyn recognized it as an old habit of Kari's. It was nice to know she hadn't changed. Much.

"What's a 'Blockbuster?'" Al finally blurted out, unable to keep it in any longer.

"You mean you haven't been to Blockbuster?" Kari laughed, and Al shook his head. "Well, in that case, you can come with me," she said happily, and then turned to Ed. "You want to come along too?" she asked, but Ed shook his head.

"Naw. I've been to Blockbuster before. You have fun Al," he said, and then the two walked out the door. He then turned to look at Robyn again.

"What happens at the end of the series that's so bad?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Robyn said dumbly, taken by surprise by this question.

"She said something about Envy. What did Envy do that's got you so worried?" Ed persisted.

"Erm…"

"You know, not everything goes exactly the way it does in the manga and anime," Ed said suddenly, and Robyn cocked her head. "I read through quite a few of the manga, and watched all the discs of the anime you lent Al, and our lives are a bit of a… combination of the two. Bits and pieces of each are true, but not the whole thing."

"Well, I'm still not telling you," Robyn said, but Ed could tell that she was relieved. His insides were burning to find out what happened in the last episode, but he decided to leave well enough alone.

"Hey Ed, could you do me a favor?" Robyn asked suddenly, and he looked up. "They have my clothes from the day of the accident in that big wardrobe-thing over there. Could you please get them for me?"

Ed raised an eyebrow quizzically, but walked over and retrieved the blue dress and white heels. He handed the clothes to Robyn who immediately stuck both her hands inside the shoes. He was about to ask her what she was doing when she pulled out her guitar pick necklace from one of the shoes. Ed smiled slightly at the sight of the familiar object. Before Robyn had been put in the hospital, he hadn't seen a day go by without her wearing it.

"I want you to take this," Robyn said suddenly, thrusting the necklace into one of Ed's hands.

"Robyn-"

"No, Ed. Please, just take it," Robyn persisted. "I _want _you to take it."

"It would leave a bitter taste in my mouth to take something of yours without giving you something in return," Ed said slowly, his eyebrows creased in thought.

"You already gave me your hair," Robyn laughed. "I think we're even now."

"No," Ed thought slowly, feeling the smooth plastic of the guitar picks between his fingers. "This necklace is sort of your…trademark, I guess you could call it. I know!" he said suddenly, and then put the necklace on the bed for a second and then pulled off his red jacket.

"No, Ed, not your jacket-" Robyn said quickly.

"Why not? A trademark for a trademark. It's an Equivalent Exchange," Ed grinned, holding out the jacket to Robyn. "Besides, I've got more back home. I tend to rip these a lot."

"Fine, you win," Robyn sighed, grabbing the jacket. "You and your 'Equivalent Exchanges.' But then you _have _to take the necklace, okay?"

"Okay," Ed smiled, picking the necklace back up off the bed.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Sigh. I think that maybe, just maybe in the next chap we'll reach the end of part one! I'm keeping my fingers crossed! In the meantime, I have to study for finals. Blergh. Wish me luck. Maybe if I do well enough I'll become a State Alchemist… What? You don't think so? I'll be The Troublemaking Alchemist! It has a nice ring to it.


	23. Relearning the Alphabet

Well, Kairi has now watched _all_ of the FMA anime, and apparently this is _inaccurate_. Ergh. Well too bad! I started this, and now I'm going to finish it! And all of you will just have to deal with it! Errr… maybe I've been watching too much FMA. That sounded almost a bit Ed-ish… Oh! And a Very Happy Late Birthday to _just another fma fan! _Sorry I couldn't gift-wrap this for you… (And a very Merry Un-Birthday to everyone else!)

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Twenty-Three – Relearning the Alphabet

Ed walked slowly into Robyn's room, afraid of the sight that greeted him. He could hear Al's footsteps clanking behind him, and for once was glad of the loud sound. They both stepped up beside her bed and looked down silently at the red bandana **(1) **covering the spot on her face where two eyes belonged.

"Al? Is that you? Is Ed with you?" Robyn asked as she reached out two groping hands that immediately came in contact with Ed's face. "Wow Ed, I didn't know you had such soft cheeks," Robyn said with a smile, making Ed blush and quickly pull away.

"Good to see you're acting like your same old self," Ed said with a slight scowl. Al looked down curiously at his brother and noticed that Ed was trying to hide a smile beneath the angry look.

"You know, she can't see you, Brother," Al whispered with a soft laugh, and Ed spun around to glare at him.

"Yeah, but she can hear _you_!" he hissed. "Shut up!"

"Hey you guys?" Robyn said suddenly and both of them stopped to turn and look at her, even though Robyn couldn't appreciate the movement. "I was wondering if you could help me," she explained, motioning down at the book in her lap. "I wanted to sign language so that I could understand people if I lost my ears, but I can't really," she trailed off softly, but Ed and Al both knew what she wanted to say.

"Can't really read the pages," Al whispered softly, his voice not only echoing through his armor, but the silent room as well.

"How are you going to understand Sign Language if you can't see?" Ed asked bluntly, instantly regretting the question. He knew from Al that you had to be careful saying things around people with different problems, (After all, something as simple as 'This dinner tastes really good' could get Al depressed) and yet he still managed to say things that were rude, inconsiderate, or just plain mean.

"I can do it like Helen Keller," Robyn countered simply, making Al look over at his brother.

"Who's Helen Keller?" he asked, and Ed sighed.

"She was born blind and deaf and learned to communicate with others by spelling words into their palms," Ed explained quickly.

It's more than that!" Robyn said in an astounded tone. "There's so much more! Books, movies, plays-"

"I'll help you learn," Al said cheerfully as he sat down next to Robyn. "It sounds like fun."

"Okay," Robyn agreed, and then tried to hold the book out to him even though she couldn't see where his hands words.

"Let's see," Al said as he gently took the book from Robyn. "Okay… this is A," he told her, holding out a fist with his thumb on the side. Robyn reached out both her hands and felt all of Al's fingers until she knew exactly what he was doing and then mimicked the gesture.

"Good!" Al said excitedly, and Robyn smiled back.

"Hey, your hands are really big," Ed said to Al. "Let me try one."

"Okay," Al said agreeably, holding the book out to his brother. "Do B next."

"Okay," Ed said as he looked down at the book. After a moment of consideration he held up his right hand like he was going to wave, and then bent his thumb against his palm.

"Don't your hands ever get hot wearing those gloves all the time?" Robyn asked as her fingers brushed against the cloth.

"You know why I can't take them off," Ed said with a hint of a growl. "Besides, I'm used to it anyway," he added softly. Robyn pulled her hand away from his and mimicked the gesture for B.

"Good," Ed murmured softly. "Al, do you want to do C?"

"Sure," Al said, making his hand into a large C shape. "This one's easy," he told Robyn, who smiled as she felt around his curled fingers.

"Knock Knock! Mind if we come in?" said a cheerful voice from the doorway, and Ed looked up to see two girls with long blond hair and short miniskirts standing in the doorway.

"We're from the yearbook committee at school," one of the girls explained as Ed wondered how they could wear so little when it was snowing outside.

"We want to put a page on you in the yearbook, Robyn," one of the girls explained. "Since, this is like all over the news and stuff." Robyn shuddered slightly at how the girls used her first name as if they were best friends or something.

"So can we ask you some questions?" the other girl asked.

"Sure," Robyn sighed, even though she knew she would hate the next few minutes of what these girls would call an 'interview.' In reality she knew it would be nothing like a real interview.

"Great!" one girl said happily. "This is Ally, and I'm Courtney!"

"Hi," Robyn said, rubbing her forehead with one hand. She knew she shouldn't have agreed to this. Why? Why had she said they could ask her a few questions?

"So what's your favorite color?" Ally asked.

"Purple," Robyn answered even though her brain was screaming to ask the girl why her favorite color was important when she had some weird disease no one had ever heard of.

"What type of car would you like to drive?" Courtney asked as Ally wrote down 'Purple.'

"Erm…" Robyn paused. She hadn't really thought in depth about that before. "How about…a… Mustang?" she said, saying the first name that popped into her head. Ed turned and gave her a glare, to which Robyn just shrugged her shoulders. Courtney wrote her answer down, and Ally looked at her sheet for the next question.

Either she couldn't read or had lost track of the conversation, because instead of asking one of the questions on the sheet, she jabbed her pencil at Ed and asked, "Is he your boyfriend?"

Awkward silence.

Whenever Ed had that question pop up with Winry back in Amestris, he always was able to answer quickly with something like, 'Hell no!' But now he was worried that if he said that he would hurt Robyn's feelings because he had said that he loved her. But they weren't officially a couple, were they? He didn't know that Robyn had almost exactly the same thoughts going through her head.

"Uhhh…"

"Errr…"

"Oh! They're so cute together!" Courtney exclaimed suddenly, looking between the two.

"Could we please move on to the next question?" Robyn growled as a hint of a blush coming to her cheeks. Only a few people could say she was cute, and _Courtney_ and _Ally_ weren't on that list.

"Okay," Courtney said as she scanned down the list of questions. "If you could have one wish, what would it be?"

"Um…" Robyn looked thoughtfully at Ed and Al. The one wish she had wanted for so long had actually come true. Who knew what would happen if she wished for something else? Besides, she didn't know what to wish for. She looked outside her window as she thought over the question. The ground was covered in snow, and even more was falling to the ground.

"I wish it was spring again," she said softly as she looked at a tree without any leaves on it. "Luke always made sure he was here for spring."

"Luke? Who's Luke?" Ally asked, looking over at Courtney for an answer. Courtney shrugged as she reached in her purse and pulled out some makeup. She quickly glanced in the small mirror before covering her face in another coat.

"Luke was her brother," Ed said simply as Robyn continued to look back out the window. "Move on. Next question. And does your boyfriend know what you're trying to hide under all that makeup?" he asked Courtney, who looked up in surprise. She wasn't used to people disturbing her out of her makeup ritual.

"Have you got a favorite quote?" Ally asked nervously. Ed was about to open his mouth to tell them to go away and leave Robyn alone when Robyn started talking softly.

"Confucius. 'Wherever you go, go with all your heart,'" she said while continuing to stare out the window.

"Thank you very much," Courtney said quickly, noticing the glare Ed was aiming at them. With that, both girls stood up and turned to go.

"I've got to study for my finals anyway," Courtney told Ally. "My mom will take away my cell phone if I don't get at least C's on all of them." Robyn suddenly turned away from the window to look at Ed.

"Finals are coming up? Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded. Ed winced and then scratched the back of his head.

"I… uh…" he stammered, trying to think up something to tell her.

"How far away are they?" Robyn asked. Ed tried to think for a minute before he answered.

"Two days."

"Two days?!" Robyn exploded. "Ed, you can't just blow off finals!"

"You know as well as I do that I'm not going to need a diploma from that school!" Ed said angrily. "I proved I was smarter than all that crap when I got this!" he said as he pulled the silver watch out of his pocket, letting in shine in the sunlight coming through the window.

"I know you don't need a diploma," Robyn said softly. "But if you get D's in all your classes, those foster parents of yours might ground you, and then you and Al couldn't come to visit me."

"Oh." Ed let her words sink in silently. She was right. She was absolutely right, and he was an idiot.

"Do you want us to help you study, Big Brother?" Al asked, and Ed sighed heavily.

"Sure, Al," he said slowly. "My backpack's here, so I got everything I could possibly need." He walked over to where he had thrown his backpack earlier that day, aware that both Robyn and Al were watching him.

"But who would want to study with books?" he asked sarcastically, smiling slightly. Sometimes it was nice to know that people cared.

T-H-I-S—IS—A—D-I-V-D-I-N-G—L-I-N-E

Ed walked silently into Robyn's room, wondering where Al had wandered off to. He had probably found some eight-year old with leukemia and was making them feel better by playing whatever games they wanted for hours, Ed thought to himself. That was the sort of thing that al did. Always looking out for others.

"_**Hi Robyn,"**_ he spelled swiftly into her hand. He had gotten good at spelling in sign language very quickly over winter break. Of course, he had realized that if Robyn did lose her hearing, then this would be his only way of communicating with her, which motivated him to learn the memorize the alphabet quickly. When they had been running laps in gym that morning, he had gone through the alphabet several times while he ran, just top make sure he knew it perfectly. He could now spell a sentence with his hands almost as fast as he could write it with a pencil now.

"Hi Ed," Robyn smiled back. "How was your first day back in school?"

"_**Horrible. I wouldn't have gone if I hadn't been forced."**_

"Sound just like your Anger Management classes," Robyn laughed slightly.

"_**Yeah, they're both just a barrel of fun," **_Ed sighed as he looked at the blond wig on top of Robyn's head, covering the fact that she didn't have ears any more. It would have been weird to not see any ears on the sides of her head, but it was also weird to see _his_ hair hiding her earless head.

"_**Robyn I have to tell you a few things that I haven't wanted to tell you for a while,"**_ Ed spelled slowly. He felt a reassuring squeeze from Robyn's hand and then slowly continued. _**"First of all, you were right about being related to someone from Amestris."**_

"Really?!" Robyn said suddenly as she sat up a little. "Was I right about Rosé? She's got the dark hair and the purple eyes…"

"_**No,"**_ Ed signed, shaking his head at his own foolishness. Why was he telling this to Robyn? What good would it do her? _**"It wasn't Rosé. It was-"**_ he paused, took a death breath and then continued, _**"It was Mustang. Roy is your grandfather."**_

Robyn was silent for a minute as she absorbed the information, and then her face suddenly broke into a slow smile. "He ended up with Riza, didn't he?" she said softly. "That's sweet. A little weird that I get to hang out with you, but sweet. What was the other thing you wanted to tell me?"

Ed wondered for a minute how she could accept that fact so easily, but then realized that this was Robyn he was dealing with. There were just some things about her he might not ever understand.

"_**Your condition is getting worse,"**_ he signed as he took deep breaths. _**"They're going to move you into a special room in order to take care of you better. And I don't know if-"**_ he wanted to say that he didn't know if he would be able to find a cure for her, but he wanted to believe himself that he could be the knight in shining armor for once. He wanted to save Robyn as much as he wanted to save Al. If giving up another arm would save Robyn, he knew he would do it in an instant.

"Hey Ed?" Robyn asked suddenly, and he snapped his attention back to her. "Today is January third, right?"

"_**Yeah,"**_ Ed signed into her hand. _**"What's so important about January third?"**_

"It's your birthday! Duh!" Robyn said happily as Al walked into the room. Trotting happily behind him was a group of young kids in hospital gowns singing the birthday song.

Ed smiled. Even with her disease, she was still the same old Robyn. Al must have told her when his birthday was. It was good she had done this, Ed realized. He need a little break.

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

**(1) **She's a pirate now! Arr!

Well, another chap done. I think I can pull off two more chaps and then it's the end of part one! And then on to part two! I can't wait for some of the characters I'm going to introduce in part two! And Evil dude that gave Robyn the disease will finally get what's coming to him! Muahahahahahahahaha!! XD kay onto the next chap…


	24. We'll Always Remember

Kay… I actually _just _finished chap 23. As in I just saved it and started a new doc two seconds ago. I was thinking of releasing the last three chapters together just for kicks. And to give you folks a lot of reading material for summer. Heh heh heh. Wait… I think I forgot to name the last chapter… Hmm… that wouldn't be good, would it? I'm going to go check on that…

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Twenty-Four – We'll Always Remember

Dead.

How could she be dead? It wasn't right. This wasn't supposed to end with an empty coffin! That stupid disease made it so that Ed couldn't even see Robyn's face when he was supposed to be saying 'goodbye' to her. Everything that had once been Robyn was gone. She didn't even get the dignity of a peaceful death. Ed had been there, he had seen it, and he knew.

It was painful.

How many times had he sat there, wishing he could do something to help? Ed looked up at the people that were at Robyn's wake as he fingered two vials in the pocket of his hoodie. Once this was done, he and Al would go back home. He was barely making it through the wake, he didn't know if he'd be able to survive the funeral the next day.

There was Robyn's dad in one corner, surrounded by a circle of relatives and bawling his eyes out as if the country needed a second Niagara Falls. Ed actually felt a little sorry for the man. He looked as if someone had snapped him in two.

And there was Kari, who was over by her parents and also crying. She wasn't crying as much as Robyn's dad was, but she was still crying.

Ed's foster parents were there too. They hadn't known Robyn well enough to be crying over her, but they were trying to comfort her relatives.

Al had managed to get in the building, and was trying to offer as much comfort a huge suit of armor like him could.

There was Fred from anime club, her hair dyed a somber black, Emily and Stephanie, the two twins that had been at the Thanksgiving dinner, the two blonds from the yearbook committee – Ally and Courtney – turning their cell phones off and trying not to say 'Like, oh my gosh!'

There were a lot of people from the high school. Even the Chemistry teacher had come out to pay his respects. One woman had introduced herself to Ed as Robyn's kindergarten teacher.

She had a lot of nice things to say about Robyn. **(1)**

Ed sighed as he looked around the room. All these people seemed to have some idea of what to do, but he had no clue. He couldn't collapse in front of the coffin and start bawling, and he couldn't go around trying to make other people feel better like Al was doing.

Ed turned around and looked at the front of the room. There were so many flowers there from so many different people. The flowers that he and Al had brought looked puny compared to the large wreaths that other people had brought in. Ed slowly walked up and looked at the different arrangements people had brought.

He slowly walked down the side of the room as he looked respectfully at the different wreaths, bouquets, lilies, and all sorts of different things. And then he reached the one from him and Al. A small bouquet with a note tied around one of the flowers' stems.

We'll always remember. –Ed and Al 

He had finally given Robyn the bouquet of cheesy romantic roses he had only daydreamed of getting her. And now the flowers looked so small and insignificant. Ed thought that they were a beautiful bouquet before he came here, but next to all the other flowers, he realized that his bouquet of roses was nothing.

Robyn had so many other important people in her life, what made them so special? Why had she wished so long ago that she could meet the Elric brothers? There had to be something she saw in them, there just had to be.

Ed finally reached the closed casket, and he gently placed a hand on it.

"What made me so special to you?" Ed whispered softly. "What was it about me that you liked? I just can't see it."

"Ed?" a soft voice said, and he turned around to face the person. It was Kari. "I got the pictures from before developed, and I thought you might like this one," she explained as she held out a picture to Ed. Ed glanced down at it as Kari watched him sadly.

Of course. Robyn was smiling in the picture, a baseball cap resting sideways on her head in an attempt to hide the fact that she was bald. Her arms were around Al on one side, and Ed on the other, who had actually managed to smile before he realized that Kari was taking his picture.

"Thank you," Ed said softly. Kari nodded and walked back over to the comfort of her parents arms. Ed turned back to the casket, this time felling the smooth surface of the photo between his fingers.

"Robyn," a voice murmured, and Ed turned to his left to see a boy a little older than him standing at the casket. He had dark hair that was a little tousled, but not enough to make the boy look sloppy, and as he looked at a picture of Robyn hanging above the casket, a fresh wave of tears started streaming from his eyes.

His _purple_ eyes.

"Luke?" Ed whispered softly, and the boy turned to look at him.

"How do you know my name?" he asked suspiciously.

"I was a friend of Robyn's," Ed explained hurriedly. "But she thought you were dead!"

"I thought I was for a long time too," Luke sighed. "I somehow managed to get away from there, but I guess I was missing long enough that they thought I was dead. I eventually ended up back here. If only I could have gotten back a little sooner," he said as more tears came to his eyes. "I wish I could have just held her hand one last time before she died."

Ed wasn't sure whether this Luke was real or just a figment of his imagination, but he was left speechless either way. But then the one thing that always managed to pop into his head came into his thoughts again.

"Equivalent Exchange," Ed muttered softly, making Luke look over with a confused expression on his face. "She wished that you were still alive, but she ended up dying herself. Nothing can be gained without giving something in return." Luke tried to make sense of this for a few more seconds before he gave up and looked back up at the picture of Robyn.

"We all deal with grief in different ways," he said reassuringly as he patted Ed on the back. There was a silence between the two, not an uncomfortable silence, since they both knew that they other was dealing with a load a heavy thoughts and wanted to deal with his own heavy thoughts as well.

"I remember how every year we used to get in a fight over what to be for Halloween," Luke said suddenly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I always wanted to be Batman and for Robyn to be Robin, since her name matched, but she always wanted to be Darth Vader and have me be Luke Skywalker because my name matched. We could never come to an agreement until I would say that I would be Robin and she would say that she'd be Luke Skywalker. It was the same routine every year."

Ed laughed slightly at the thought of an eight year old Robyn dressed up as Luke Skywalker. "She never was one for the princess costumes, was she?" Ed asked with a chuckle.

"No, she never really was," Luke said, letting himself laugh a little with Ed. Another silence passed between them before Luke turned back to Ed.

"Thanks for being there for my kid sister," he said, putting one hand on Ed's shoulder. "I don't know how I can tell from a few minutes with you, but I think that she really needed someone like you around."

"She really loved you," Ed said softly, and Luke nodded, another wave of tears threatening to spill out of his eyes.

"I know. I was lucky to be related to such a great kid."

T-H-I-S—IS—A—D-I-V-D-I-N-G—L-I-N-E

Robyn slowly opened one eye, then the other. She thought for a minute that she must be out in the snow because everything was white, but then she realized that wasn't it.

There was nothing. It was the strangest thing. She didn't know that it was possible for there to be a place were nothing existed. There wasn't even color or light, or… _anything._ There was only nothing, and you had to either accept it as a fact or go insane.

Then Robyn suddenly thought of something, and she whirled around as if someone had been following her. Ha! As if someone could follow you somewhere where there's only nothing.

But there was something.

"Oh crap," Robyn muttered to herself.

She stared in horror at the huge stone gate looming over her, spoiling the perfectness of Nothing. Of all the places in Fullmetal Alchemist, this was the one she had hope she'd never see. She knew what sort of things happened at the gate, and she also knew that what she knew about the gate was probably only a small portion of information. After all, anything she knew about this place she had either learned from Manga or Anime.

And then a voice interrupted the silence of Nothing.

"_Hello." _

Robyn could feel herself beginning to tremble, but then she realized that this was no problem. After all, it was probably just some satanic demon child that called himself The Truth. No worse than watching Chucky after a night of junk food, right?

Well, maybe not, but still.

She slowly took a few deep breaths and prepared herself to speak calmly to the satanic demon child. She would not freak out. She would remain calm and collected. And with that final thought, Robyn slowly turned around.

"Hello, Truth."

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

**(1) **You can tell a lot about a person just by their finger painting… XD

Yeah, it's a little short. I'll post the next chapter right with it, okay? I'll get 'em all up at once to keep you happy, since I know there might be a few people who will want to kill me for killing off Robyn. Sorry! Believe me when I say that I loved her _at least _as much as you guys, if not more! Eeeeepp! I feel bad about it…


	25. Robins

Okay, final chapter of Part One! Ha! I finally did it!!! I feel good now! For anybody who wants to know, this chap is from Ed's POV. He stole my computer and wrote it out himself and then told me to write the author's note and post it. Ha! I wish. If Edward Elric really stole the computer from me to write fanfic, then I wouldn't be writing this fanfic in the first place, now would I?

**As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.**

On wit' da show!

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Chapter Twenty-Five - Robins

Rob'in _n._ brown red-breasted bird of the thrush family.

Or so Webster puts it. But has anyone ever given the little creature more thought than that? Do we even think that an ordinary bird like the robin deserves more than one line in the dictionary? A dictionary is only so big, and we want to save room for the _important _words. And everyone knows what a robin is, so it shouldn't get more than a line, right?

Most people disregard the common little bird when it sits on a tree in their yard or chirps out a happy little tune in the morning. After all, the robin is just a normal everyday sort of bird, not as eye-catching as a goldfinch or as beautiful as a swan. It's an average bird - not too big or too small, and not extremely colorful, but also not completely plain. Its songs aren't beautiful to stop people in their tracks, but they aren't ugly enough to do the same in worse way either.

And the robin isn't an 'ugly duckling' either. It isn't scorned and shunned for half it's life only to discover that it was destined for much greater things. Robins just live through their short lives dealing with the problems they get. Their problems never magically disappear like the problems of people in books. If there's no good twigs for a nest, then that's just too bad.

And of course there's the old belief that with the first robin comes the arrival of spring. Young children and even adults sometimes have competitions to see who can spot the first robin, all the while thinking of how great spring will be. After a long cold winter, who doesn't welcome the thought of flowers and fresh rain? But it's not the robin that's so wonderful, but the warm weather of spring it represents.

I should have seen her for what she really was the moment she told me her name. I always thought that I was also looking forward to the nice weather of spring, not the robin itself. I never thought that a plain little bird like Robyn could be so beautiful.

After many bleak days, months, and years going by seemingly without any small glimmers of hope, she finally came into my life, making flowers bloom again and snow and ice melt. The spring, but a spring that only I was experiencing. But unlike the bird, Robyn wasthe _reason _for my spring, because I knew that without her it might not – probably wouldn't - have happened. For the first time in years I felt like hope existed in the world and that anything was possible if you worked hard enough for it.

I guess if that's true, then it means that I didn't work hard enough.

At the time I thought I did, but I must have done _something _wrong, because in the end it didn't work. And nobody can tell me that I didn't do anything wrong because I know that isn't true. If I didn't do _anything_ wrong, then why isn't Robyn still alive?

I wish I at least knew what I did wrong, even though I know I can't go back and fix it. At least when we failed years ago I realized that it had been my mistake to try and bring the dead back to life. But this time I have no clue what I did wrong. How can I stop this from happening again if I don't know what I did wrong? There's only one thing I can think of that might have caused my downfall.

But is it really so wrong to love a person?

Everyone I have ever cared for has had the same sort of misfortune Robyn did, though some not quite as severe. It's like I'm cursed, but I don't know how to stop it other than locking myself in a room alone for the rest of my life.

How do I stop it, dammit?! How can I protect the people around me? I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me anymore! I thought that Robyn was the proof that I could have friends without them getting hurt, but then she got sick too.

I don't know what to do anymore. I always thought I would know how to attack life with a plan and a bit of alchemy, but I don't feel like I know how to anymore. It's just not as fun anymore. Every time I transmute something or read a book, I always think about what she would think of it. How she would say that my details aren't so great, and then I'd say something like 'if you're so smart then you can make it yourself,' and then she would laugh. And then I can't help but smile back at her, even if it's all in my imagination. I can't do anything without Robyn popping into my head at least once.

Every time I see a robin in a tree or sitting by the road, I almost want to cry, but I can't. I'm a freak that doesn't belong among normal people. I have the curse of hurting everyone who cares about me and then can't shed a single tear for them when they die. I bet Al could do it if he had a body, I _know _Winry can, and I'm even willing to bet that Roy cried a bit when Hughes died. But I _can't. _I'm sorry Robyn. I really wish I could cry for you, but I just _can't._

How could you have ever loved a bastard like me?

PpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPpPp

Yes, it's short. Consider it more of an Epilogue to part one than an entire chapter. Because if you go thinking of it as an entire chapter, then you're going to get mad at me, and we don't want that now do we? Besides, I posted the other two chapters right with it, so it's not like this chapter is all you've had to read for weeks…

End of Part One! Heeeeeehhhhhh. Now on to part two! (cough cough wheeze wheeze)


	26. Thank You

Okay, I decided that The New Neighbors no longer really fits as a title, so part two is now going to be called A Strange Arrival, as a new story. I already have the first chapter posted, and the id is 3601700. Go ahead and check it out. But since I'm now finishing The New Neighbors, I have a lot of thanks to say to everybody, so here goes. (These are all in alphabetical order, not a scale of how important you are.)

Thanks to the C2 FullMetalAlchemist, HarryPotter and Other stories! for putting The New Neighbors on it

Thanks to agent000, Al Luver, Anime Angel Alchemist, AnimeFreak2306, Artificial Life Creator, Bunny Grl, caspercat22, Coolkat and RoooKie, Envious Kitten, Flame.Phoenix.Rising,

Fuebi aka hobo number 5, Harryswoman, Havoc's Honey, hpgrl95, Isleya, Kairi Angel, Khait Khepri, Liah Cauthon, Madison Angel Kaiba, Mew Sarin Alchemist, Misery's-Toll, nightbug08, notasquirt, oONight.WitchOo, PyroDea, Sora Akisame-dono, The Sick Rythem, and Wandering Hitokiri for putting The New Neighbors on their favorites list.

Thanks to agent000, Anime Angel Alchemist, AnimeFreak2306, Artificial Life Creator, -Asa-Hoshi-, Bunny Grl, caspercat22, Coolkat and RoooKie, Envious Kitten, Flame.Phoenix.Rising, Fuebi aka hobo number 5, Harryswoman, Havoc's Honey, hpgrl95, K a i ri . O c e a n ., Kairi Angel, Khait Khepri, kianna13, Liah Cauthon, Madison Angel Kaiba, Mew Sarin Alchemist, nekochan5345, nightbug08, oONight.WitchOo, ooooooooOOBuBBlesOOoooooooo, Serenapeacecraft, and Suuki-Aldrea for putting The New Neighbors on their alert list.

Thanks to Anime Angel Alchemist, caspercat22, datawrangler, Envious Kitten, Kairi Angel, Liah Cauthon, Lilycat145, Madison Angel Kaiba, Mew Sarin Alchemist, oONight.WitchOo, SPARTAN G294, and Wandering Hitokiri for putiing me on their favorite authors list.

Thanks to Anime Angel Alchemist, AnimeFreak2306, datawrangler, Kairi Angel, Liah Cauthon, Mayuna, nightbug08, and WildfireDreams for putting me on their author alert list.

A special thank you to Beth, Caitlin, Franziska (Frankie), Kathleen, Rachel (Bagel), Sabrina, Sarah for reading the hard copy version even if they were able to read the on-line version.

And a big thank you to ..., addicted, agent000, Anime Angel Alchemist, Artificial Life Creator, -Asa-Hoshi-, caspercat22, Envious Kitten, feefee223, Fred, Fuebi aka hobo number 5, Harryswoman, Havoc's Honey, hpgrl95, Isleya, Jean Havoc's Girl, Jess, just another fma fan, Kairi Angel, Khait Khepri, Liah Cauthon, Lilycat14, Mew Sarin Alchemist, Misery's-Toll, nekochan5345, nightbug08, oONight.WitchOo, ooooooooOOBuBBlesOOoooooooo, Renneh, Ruth, Sora Elric, Suuki-Aldrea, Wandering Hitokiri for leaving one or more reviews at some time or another. (Even if they were saying the story sucked)


	27. The NEW New Neighbors!

The New Neighbors (Revised)

Chapter One

School was boring. Everyone knew that. Everyone accepted that. Well, except for the teachers who didn't seem to get how boring they were, and the parents who always thought it was nowhere _nearly_ as boring as what _they_ had to go through at work.

I slung my backpack over my arm and cringed as the book-laden bag fell against my back. Oh what cruel friends books could be. They loved you one moment, and the next, they shouted "School!" from every orifice. Wow, books had orifices? I would have to think more on that later. Right then, I had to get to school.

As soon as I stepped outside, I knew something was wrong. Now would be a perfect time to pretend I was psychic until I was disproved, as always seemed to happen. One of these days, I swore I would guess something before it happened. In the meantime, my job would be to look around and figure out where the wrong vibe was coming from.

The grass was still as green as ever, so it couldn't be that. Well, the Gurps' grass was as brown as ever. Massachusetts wasn't a desert, so I wasn't sure how my neighbors always managed to kill their grass, but they somehow pulled it off. Everything they touched seemed to fall into disorder. Nice. What a talent.

I flicked my eyes up at the sky, but saw nothing to explain the feeling. It was a rather nice day, and I scowled and shook my fist at the sky for being nice on a school day. Stupid sky.

Now where had I not looked? Oh yeah, toward the other neighbor's house, supposing that even counted. That house had been vacant for a long time. Still, I looked, saw something different, and breathed a sigh of relief at the validation I wasn't going crazy. A moving van was parked in front of the house. That was what I had subconsciously registered as I'd stepped out the door. We were going to have new neighbors, and I found myself silently praying that these neighbors would be better than the Gurps.

Having solved the mystery and concluding with a sigh that I still wasn't psychic, I readjusted my backpack and started on my way to school. Evil school, it stood there across the street from my house, laughing at me every morning. It liked to make me think about school even on the weekends by sitting there within view of my house. Oh yes, I knew its evil plot.

First period. Chemistry. Ugh. Why did I have to have a thinking subject first thing in the morning? This school was just having a laugh at my expense, I knew it. Well, I didn't think the joke was funny, and I was going to have to find a way to get the last laugh on the school one of these days.

After checking in at my locker, I entered the classroom and made my way over to my desk and was about to sit down when I stopped, holding my books against my chest like a shield. The desks were built to fit two people, but I had not yet been given a partner. That is, I hadn't had one before today.

The boy sitting on the other side of my desk started and turned to look at me, and I took a step backward. I wasn't afraid of the boy per se, but there was something so—-so—-_something_—-about the boy it was unnerving to me.

I couldn't quite remember what was bothering me. He had long blond hair pulled back into a braid, which registered as familiar somehow, but my brain had still not woken up from its late morning snooze. He was wearing gloves too, which seemed odd for him to be wearing them in the classroom. And then there was the red coat he was wearing. It wasn't so cold that someone would need to wear their jacket inside.

Then it hit me. This boy was dressed like Edward Elric. How had I not thought of that right away? It was further proof that my brain should not be expected to exercise in the morning. Even watching Fullmetal Alchemist too early resulted in a wide open jaw and drool on my chin.

My shoulders relaxed and I smiled. If this boy was to be my new desk mate, that could be rather cool. We could both be obsessed fans together.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer."

I blinked a couple times as I registered where I was and realized the speaker had been the boy I'd been looking at, as though moving lips weren't a clue that someone might be speaking. Perhaps I needed to perform a brain transmutation to bring my brain back from the dead.

I looked into the boy's eyes for the first time, and simultaneously leapt for joy and cringed when I saw his eyes were golden like Edward's. This guy was obsessed, maybe more than I was, if that was even possible.

My brain came online and I remembered how to speak. "I left my camera at home."

The boy rolled his eyes and sighed, and I felt the heat rising in my face as I realized he had been sarcastic. Stupid, stupid brain. When I woke up, it was supposed to wake up with me. I was going to murder it—-with a hatchet, or I would drop it from a tall building, or I would boil it, mash it, and put it in a stew…

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and sat down in my seat, even though "Ed's" presence next to me made me feel a little bit uneasy, but I would get used to it soon enough, once I got used to the idea that I had a realistic Edward Elric sitting in the seat next to me.

I placed my books on the desk and turned to face the boy. "I'm Robyn."

"Edward," he said, and I blinked, not sure I'd heard right. After a minute, I decided I had, and I laughed. "Ed" scowled at me and said, "What's so funny?"

"What's your real name?"

"Edward. I told you that."

I still didn't believe him, and I told him so in the midst of my giggles. He groaned and said, "What's so hard to believe about that?

"Um, maybe the way you're dressed?" I said.

"What's wrong with the way I'm dressed?"

I was spared having to answer, because Mr. Duncan walked into the classroom right then. I breathed a sigh of relief even as "Ed" shot me a glare and turned to face the teacher. I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of answering his question for long, but by then, I'd have had time to think up a legitimate answer.

-To Be Continued-

**Hey, AA here! I want to let you all know, this is not the entire first chapter, and I did NOT write this. The lovely author by the name of agent000 is the one who wrote this chapter. She's working on rewriting the whole story, actually. We've started a new account between the two of us for shared stories we'll be writing together. Our first project is rewriting one story the other has already written. If you like her writing or The New Neighbors, I suggest you check it out, considering there's much more to thins chapter! I only gave you a little teaser. -wink, wink- **

**And If you're not feeling for that sort of thing, the first chapter of my rewrite of her story should also be posted. I'm doing my take on her story My Body, Your Soul. **

**So check us out! Our shared account name is Vanilla and Chocolate. If you're lazy, go to my favorite authors list to find it. We're going to be writing a lot more together in the future, so keep an eye out. **

**I personally think that agent000 did an awesome job on this and I highly reccomend reading the rest of the chapter.  
**


End file.
